Before I start, I didn't think this fit into the "Residence" so I put it under "General" instead. I'm renting a house in Westdale with 5 other friends and no one has been living there for the entire summer because the landlord is renovating the bathroom. I went to the other day to take measurements of my room and found mold had sprouted all along the baseboards and near the door frame of my room. The mold is black, blue, green and grey and grows by the day. I'm hesitant to tell the landlord because I think he'll just wipe it off and shove the problem aside, so I've called the off-campus resource centre. I guess my real question here is, does anyone know if I HAVE to live there now? I'm freaking out, don't want to end up with a bunch of health problems and really, really do not want to live there.

Any input would be awesome, thanks!

EDIT: Yeah now I see this should be under "Residence". Oh well.

If you've signed a lease already, chances are you will have to pay to live there, even if you decide to go with someplace else (unless there was something about mold and similar situations mentioned in the lease, or there is a law saying that talks about mold). The OCRC should be able to direct you with the best course of action. What did they tell you when you called there?

The landlord has a responsibility to provide a healthy living environment. If there is mold growing in your apartment this is not a healthy living enviroment. Your first step should be to inform your landlord. If he just wipes it off, there will probabaly still be mold spores and it can regrow. Your next step after that would be to call a health/city inspector to verify that there is still mold growing. If your landlord doesn't fix it permantly after that, you can file some forms with the landlord tenant board to force him to fix it or move out. My advice through all of this would be to call the Ontario Landlord tenant board. They can't give you any "legal" advice, but I have found them to be very informative and helpful in describing what my rights are as a tenant

Originally Posted by Marlowe

If you've signed a lease already, chances are you will have to pay to live there, even if you decide to go with someplace else (unless there was something about mold and similar situations mentioned in the lease, or there is a law saying that talks about mold). The OCRC should be able to direct you with the best course of action. What did they tell you when you called there?

I had to leave a message because I called on Friday night, so I am still waiting on them.. I guess I'm just getting impatient and looking for any other advice.

Although you should follow the advice others have given above, if you want to inhibit the mold's growth, wiping it off with bleach will kill the actual spores. However, like others have said, they're still floating around in the air and can still regrow...

Originally Posted by lizziemcg

I had to leave a message because I called on Friday night, so I am still waiting on them.. I guess I'm just getting impatient and looking for any other advice.

Ok, gotcha. Well, talking to them and the Ontario Landlord Tenant board are probably your best options, so be sure to talk to them tomorrow! Sorry I can't be more helpful.

I recommend calling Chuck Norris. I hear he's pretty good with mold.

Take pictures of the mold in your room (and other areas of the house) before your landlord deals with it. That way, you have proof if he just gets rid of it and pretends it was never there.

We have a very similar situation right now... Landlord didn't like us telling him about it, but you know what: Gotta get done!

He was trying to blame it on us at first: Might be moisture from no shower curtain (but we have one installed?), then tried to pass it off as surface mold, then tapped the wall and it crumbled really, exposing it.

I'm sure it's unhealthy, but it's not asbestos either. Long term exposure isn't good, but as long as my landlord gets it properly fixed SOON, I'll be happy. No excuses from him. He can have us as happy tenants for the next four to 5 years, or he can get us angry, and get higher powers involved... It's really that simple in a case like this.

Originally Posted by mike_302

We have a very similar situation right now... Landlord didn't like us telling him about it, but you know what: Gotta get done!

He was trying to blame it on us at first: Might be moisture from no shower curtain (but we have one installed?), then tried to pass it off as surface mold, then tapped the wall and it crumbled really, exposing it.

I'm sure it's unhealthy, but it's not asbestos either. Long term exposure isn't good, but as long as my landlord gets it properly fixed SOON, I'll be happy. No excuses from him. He can have us as happy tenants for the next four to 5 years, or he can get us angry, and get higher powers involved... It's really that simple in a case like this.

It's especially unhealthy for people that are allergic to mold. But it also depends on the type of mold.

Not too sure about allergies in my place anyways. No one in our place seems to have any allergic reactions yet. But I'm not too up on my biological/health stuff anyways!

You should get on it right away. Sure, it mold probably won't hurt you, but if you let your landlord get away with things like that, you might be in a bad situation.

Like someone said, take photos and document everything. Bleach does work, there are very few things it actually doesn't destroy, but it can be harmful if you get it on your hands or something.

Be polite and open with your landlord and keep a line of communication.

In my experience of renting in Hamilton and surrounding areas over the last couple of decades:

1. as suggested already, document EVERYTHING. Photographs with date stamps are best.

2. when you talk to your landlord, put it in WRITING!! keep a copy for yourself and write on it when you gave it to him/her.

3. if the problem is still not resolved, contact the City of Hamilton, Property Standards division. They will send an inspector (this is true for all property issues... improper heating, infestations of bugs or rodents, etc). They will send out an inspector and if your case is valid, they will give notice to your landlord. If the landlord does not comply, the City will take care of the problem at your landlord's expense. again - DOCUMENT!! when did you contact them, when did they come out to inspect, etc.

http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartmen...yStandards.htm

4. if all else fails, you can contact the landlord/tenant tribunal. this is where that documentation comes in handy! know that you will initially have to pay $40 (last time i checked) to file a claim. if you prove your case, this money will be returned to you.

Originally Posted by soltintal

In my experience of renting in Hamilton and surrounding areas over the last couple of decades:

1. as suggested already, document EVERYTHING. Photographs with date stamps are best.

2. when you talk to your landlord, put it in WRITING!! keep a copy for yourself and write on it when you gave it to him/her.

3. if the problem is still not resolved, contact the City of Hamilton, Property Standards division. They will send an inspector (this is true for all property issues... improper heating, infestations of bugs or rodents, etc). They will send out an inspector and if your case is valid, they will give notice to your landlord. If the landlord does not comply, the City will take care of the problem at your landlord's expense. again - DOCUMENT!! when did you contact them, when did they come out to inspect, etc.

http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartmen...yStandards.htm

4. if all else fails, you can contact the landlord/tenant tribunal. this is where that documentation comes in handy! know that you will initially have to pay $40 (last time i checked) to file a claim. if you prove your case, this money will be returned to you.

Thank-you so much, this was really thorough and helpful. Unless I'm misunderstanding you, putting my conversation with the landlord in writing may be an issue though as he never provided an email (let alone a copy of the lease, I know, this is probably going to be a heck of a time).

Originally Posted by lizziemcg

Thank-you so much, this was really thorough and helpful. Unless I'm misunderstanding you, putting my conversation with the landlord in writing may be an issue though as he never provided an email (let alone a copy of the lease, I know, this is probably going to be a heck of a time).

1. if you're talking to landlord on the phone, record dates and times of conversations... texting, save texts.

2. i would still try to put it in writing. eventually the landlord would presumably show up to fix the problem and/or collect the rent and you could hand it to him? landlords can sometimes be intimidating because some of them (not all) feel that if they can get away with something because the renter is too naive, they will. always cover your own butt. if you don't and then a problem arises, you have very little recourse. if you can't get it in writing, still try to do option #1.

and for anyone having any kind of problem like this, yes, there is the help on campus, but there is also an excellent website called CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario). It has pdf booklets that you can download that explain in layman's terms, step-by-step, EXACTLY what your rights are, what your landlord can and can't do, what you can and can't do, etc. they also have booklets regarding other legal issues as well.


http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/on...t/landlord.htm