Urgent: Help Us Move from Moldy Apartment

Hello, my name is Melody. I am a stay-at-home mom. I live in an apartment with my husband, our one-year-old daughter, an eight-year-old son, and my adult daughter.

On April 10 of this year, around 10:30 pm, we were awakened by what sounded like heavy rain. Come to find out that the water heater on my neighbor's 3rd-floor patio had burst and flooded through my 2nd-floor neighbor's water heater area and then into mine. It was so much water that it started coming through the wall in our dining room area and also through our floorboard into the dining room. My daughter had just moved back home, so all her stuff was stored with the water heater, and so were our Christmas decorations. They all got wet.

We tried calling our emergency maintenance number but quickly found out that my apartment complex just transfers their after-hours/emergency calls to a random company that is not affiliated with them and was trying to charge my neighbor to come out just to stop the water. We ended up having to call the fire department to come and open the reserve so that the water would pour down alongside our building, which made water begin to drip into our dining room now through the window.

The next morning, we called our apartment complex, and they didn't send anyone to our apartment till almost 11 am. The maintenance guys slapped the bubble that was protruding from the wall and said, "Yep, that's wet! Just open your window, and it'll dry naturally," and left. The next day, I could smell mildew, so I called the leasing office, and they didn't send anyone. I was completely ignored.

After constantly being ignored, my husband and I found a company that does free water damage checks. We have a report that shows that even after 3 days, our wall and floor were still wet. And to make matters worse, this is, unfortunately, our 4th flood since we've lived here that we've noticed. So I asked the gentleman checking for water damage to check all the other places where I had knowledge of previous floods, and it was still wet as well.

We went back to our leasing office to tell them the results and also sent them the report. We requested for them to check for mold and to repair the water-damaged areas. After a week, the office finally sent maintenance over, and he instantly smelled the mildew smell. With his device, he checked the dining room wall and floor and confirmed it was still wet. Then he went into the master bathroom and confirmed that that was still wet as well. He instantly became concerned for my family's and my health because he said that there is a chance of mold and opening the wall would make it worse. Then he recommended that we get a mold test done not only in the walls and floors but also in the air.

After he left, we gave the complex a few days and waited to hear something. Nothing happened. So now, 2 weeks after the incident, we went to the leasing office to talk to the manager. She first tried to gaslight us and tell us that the maintenance man told her that it wasn't that wet anymore, but when we wouldn't accept her lies, she finally admitted that the complex does not have a vendor that handles water damage and that they are trying to get one.

So on May 5th, exactly 26 days since the last flood, we had to come out of pocket and even had to borrow money to hire an environmentalist to test the air and 2 surface areas for mold. That was sadly all that we could afford. Unfortunately, the test did come back positive for mold in the floorboard of the dining room area and also in the air in the living room area. The environmentalist recommended that the entire apartment be tested because there were areas that you can clearly see have extreme water damage, and it looks really unsafe.

Since then, we have gotten the runaround from our apartment complex; they are basically ignoring us. I have tried to contact a lawyer for help, but apparently, lawyers "won't touch" a mold case, which is absolutely mind-blowing to me. So now we have sent our notice to the complex that we are withholding rent due to inhabitability. And the only option is for us to move. The problem with that is due to poor financial choices in our past, our credit is not so good, and with my husband being the only income, we are struggling to find a place that will accept us.

We are good people in a bad situation, and we just need help getting out of here. It's not only this flood situation, but the complex has become infested with pests of all kinds, and it is not the safest area to live in. We are asking for donations to help us with our moving costs and the initial deposit for our new place. I appreciate everyone taking the time to read my story, and I thank you in advance for choosing to help me and my family out. May God bless you!