Tenants and Toxic Mold or other Environmental Problems

See mold info from the California Department of Public Health. American Air Testing thinks initial assessment of a mold problem is very beneficial. This initial assessment and evaluation is confirmed by the ISO approval of the IICRC S520, which is the national standard for professional, safe, complete mold removal.

Having a mold problem as a tenant in the Bay Area presents unique problems:

1. If at all possible, try to work it out directly with your landlord or property manager. This can provide immediate and complete resolution, if both parties remain realistic.
2. Legal fees can get expensive. It can cost initially $750+ for American Air Testing’s onsite mold inspection and report, and between $2500 – $5,000+ for our part of preparing your case through your attorney. There are other options.
3. You may want to consider sending us a client supplied mold sample of the bulk discolored material or tape lift sample of the discoloration seen on your belongings or the actual building. We charge $125 to send your sample to our environmental lab. You are then provided with a report that includes these lab results and our limited opinion of your situation. This may result in your landlord addressing your problems. Sample report.
4. You may be able to obtain a much speedier, less costly resolution to your mold damage in small claims court. The new limit in San Francisco is $7500. It is always preferable to amicably resolve this problem with your landlord.
5. Our onsite inspection report primarily benefits the owner of the building. Mold is caused by water where it doesn’t belong; example – under a leaking window, as an example. So, our reports focus on finding the leaks and how to repair the problems.
6. If you live in an older building the problem may be interior condensation caused by single paned windows, lack of wall and ceiling insulation, lack of sufficient exhaust fans in the bath and kitchen with multiple people taking showers and cooking.
7. You may wish to consider moving.

If you have hired an attorney, our services will be very useful. If you haven’t hired an attorney, then you may wish to consider the options above. If you do proceed legally, it is far more cost effective to have us work with your attorney, than to guess at the test strategy necessary to support your position. You should begin with an attorney that specializes in tenants rights; especially if you are a tenant in San Francisco.

It is unfortunate that local health departments will have very limited impact on resolving environmental problems. Now with all the budget cuts, it is even more difficult to obtain any type of resolution from the building departments, housing departments, or health departments.