I must seek advice, again - Mold in drywall and housing issues

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

After DH joined me in Vegas, we rented a house with pool. Our lease (standard Nevada/Las Vegas Realtors) requires us to pay for small repairs up to $60 and to pay for the $60 home warranty service fee for all others. We had no problem with this, since we are homeowners (our home in NC is rented), and thinking that it would not be a daily occurrence for us to contact the home warranty.

The landlords (an LLC in NJ which apparently buys up foreclosures and short sales and flips them as rentals) want us to call for repairs. Being that I am in the legal field, I keep e-mails of everything.

Anyway, from the beginning, there have been problems. Our tenancy began the last week of July (technically, our lease began Aug. 1). Since then, we have spent $300 in service fees. The pool outlet valve has leaked since day 1. We can't fill the pool without wasting gallons of water. The water heater unit was so old and so full of calcium that it leaked profusely. The property had been purchased sight unseen in cash only the month before we leased it.

The yard was in bad shape. Although we are required to maintain the landscape, we have been threatened with fines by the landlords through the home's POA. We have bought sod out of our pocket to fix issues that were there well before we moved in.

We've written the landlords on several occasions about these issues. The water heater took 2 weeks to get replaced. To add insult to injury, though the replacement was covered by the home warranty, the plumber contractor demanded $190 to pay for modifications he had to make. We refused. They were supposed to contact the landlord. Well, we received a bill for it.

The pool leak is not covered by the home warranty; our water bills have been rather high.

We just had a consultation with an attorney the other day. She will be giving us some advice by tomorrow on what we can do, if anything.

However, my question to you guys is this. The water heater sits on a raised drywall ledge in the garage against the wall. As you open the door into the house, there is the laundry room. In the laundry room, there is a storage area accessible via a little door (as it is under the stairs to the 2nd floor). The drywall is half-way infested with mold. It smells terrible in the laundry room, so much so that everytime I think one of the dogs must have pooped in the house.

The landlords have been aware of this mold issue for well over 3 weeks now. Finally, their contractor wants to come and repair the drywall on Monday. We have requested that the door leading into the laundry room be kept closed at all times.

However, what other precautions should we demand they take? If they are going to rip the drywall apart, aren't they risking the distribution of mold spores into the garage and the storage area and, eventually, into the house itself as there is a small gap between the floor and the storage room's door? Should we put plastic or spray with bleach or do anything to prevent contamination?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. just seal off the door, and if you go out there be careful not to track the dust in

now that the leak has been fixed, unless it gets wet in there again you shouldn't have a problem.

the guys doing the work are in way more danger than you are. they'll be covered in it by the time they're done.

edit: is it still damp inside the walls? if so you'll need to run a heater in there to dry it out before the new sheetrock goes up. DON"T let them put up the new stuff before the wood dries out!

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

4. There is no dampness any longer, ever since the leaking unit was replaced

Las Vegas air is very dry and things do dry up quickly. The smell, however, is almost unbearable and, as I mentioned in the post, it has affected the laundry room area.

The contractor is not a mold remediation/abatement person - he's just the guy these landlords' local realtor/friend uses to fix up their properties (they own about 10 homes in the area).

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. the smell is 90% in the drywall

once that's gone a vinegar spray down of the bare wood and you should be good to go.
We deal with a lot of this stuff in PacNW

[ohiosmith]

2. Contact an abatement specialist. They will examine the mold and determine if it is a threat. There

are very specific protocols for dealing with mold that must be followed.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. If you spray (bad idea) or use a sponge, do not use bleach. Use vinegar.