The manager is a sweetheart, as is her grandson. Her husband is a very hard worker. However, the building has a problem with mold. We became mysteriously sick upon moving in (me worse than my spouse, but him too), and eventually, about 6 weeks after living there, a doctor diagnosed the illness as toxic mold exposure. We paid for a professional mold test to be done (the landlord said he'd pay for $200 of it and never did). The test confirmed the presence of more mold spores indoors than outdoors, including toxic black mold indoors not present outdoors. That means the mold is coming from the building. (We wished we had been more suspicious of the musty smell in the hallways!)

We worked with the owner to move out. We were out about 1/2 a month's rent, the cost of the mold test, various medical bills, and a portion of the security deposit (though we left the place extremely clean, and worked our last day there cleaning it. It wasn't checked after we finished cleaning it, the cleaning woman hired by the landlord came it *just* as we were leaving, we saw her going in, and took photos of how we left it.) At least, however, he did work to rent it for the next month, and did return at least part of the security deposit.

We didn't press for what we were owed, because the within a few weeks of moving out, we had much more pressing issues. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which can be (and in my case probably was) caused by toxic fungal exposure. Nothing remotely like it has ever happened to anyone in my extended family before (but then, none of them ever lived in areas of high mold). We were focused on this, and glad to just be out.

If not for the mold issue, the apartment and building would have been just fine. The units have dishwashers and washer/dryers, the location is easy walking distance to the library, reasonable walking distance to groceries, a short drive to St. Edwards park, and is affordable. The building was mostly quiet; one neighbor like to play techno softly in the wee hours of the morning, and a handy-man once or twice played music at like 11pm or so, but these were both dealt with quickly. The manager is an extremely sweet lady. We really wished it had worked out, but we left ASAP because we (and it affected me especially badly) were sick of being physically ill, and scared of what additional exposure would do.

Maybe if you are on a higher floor (we were on the 1st), the mold isn't a problem. But watch out for these symptoms: having your sinuses bleed and produce bloody mucous all day for weeks on end, having constant headaches and head fogginess, and spending about 3-4 evenings a week entirely in the bathroom thanks to extreme diarrhea. That's indicative of toxic mold exposure, and for us all these symptoms cleared up within about 3 days of moving from the apartment.

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User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/05/2008
(Repost for formatting reasons) About the mold: 1. The mold report: I have the complete, 20 page report plus offical notes. I faxed only what I beleived to be the critical portion, the central report, and not the many pages of notes. I don????????????t have a fax machine, for me to fax is at least a dollar a page and a trip to a print shop, and I was completely sick of sinking money into that apartment just because the landlord didn't believe my doctor, and didn't take getting the place professionally checked for mold seriously (that's why we, the tenants, had to hire the inspector). I didn't know that the notes were critical and so faxed just the central report, but I do have the full report. Thus, the owner's consultant's comments about the report being incomplete are not applicable; the report I got from the professional was complete, I just didn't fax the notes. Our inspector's methods are the standard methods, like those of the other companies we contacted. The method involves sucking air with a machine into a container, at a controlled constant rate and for a specific time, from different areas, inside and outside (outside for a control). The air is then sent to an independent testing laboratory. If the air from inside *statistically significantly* contains more mold than that outside, the mold is coming from the building. I wish to God it hadn????????????t been, and that I was just suffering from a flu or something, because it is miserable to move AGAIN a mere six weeks after moving 2000 miles from the Midwest, and we were otherwise satisfied with the apartment. Aside, to give a picture of our situation at this time: at time I got the report, we had already moved out, were staying with friends who needed us out pronto, and were in the process of finding and then moving in to a new place. We were also in a car accident (we didn't get hurt but it was an additional big hassle, paperwork and car repair). My husband was just about to start a demanding job at a major IT company. By the time we were done moving, a week or so later, I was diagnosed with a much more serious illness: an autoimmune disease. Before the landlord got my fax, he mailed back the full refundable portion of our security deposit (he kept the non-refundable cleaning fee, which the manager said is often returned if the apartment is clean -- and ours was very clean, whe have photos), because our apartment was obviously at least *reasonably* clean, and was entirely undamaged. I recieved the refundable portion of the deposit only after I faxed the core of the report, and so it was only after that that I knew I wasn't just throwing money down a pit. Until that point I had figured I was throwing money down a pit, and I had been preparing for legal action. 2. The inspector: The inspector is a licensed/certified mold inspector. I have the full 20 page official report from this professional. Yes, I found him in the Yellow Pages (what's wrong with the Yellow Pages to start, if you do additional verification?), and yes he was cheaper than average, but he is certified to do mold inspections. He is well within the normal range for the cost of testing. For the services we needed, middle-range cost was about 600. The range was from about 500 (his cost) to about 750 (highest cost we found). He was thus in a very normal price range for testing, only somewhat below average costs. He says he does this relative discount to ensure steady business. He also has very many, many years of experience in the business and is still in business; if he was practicing unlicensed or uncertified, wouldn't the government have stopped him by now, after all these years and multiple customers every day? The owner's claims simply don't hold water 3. The inspector's classes: The classes the inspector took are the months-long training course for certification. There is nothing suspect about this. This is how mold inspectors become trained and certified here. 4. The owner's consultant: After we had the testing done, and got back the results, the owner said he knew someone who knew about mold inspection, and wanted that person to check the results. Whether this person he personally knew was who he consulted, or whether this person referred him to the consultant, I cannot say. I am suspicious of his claims that he didn't know her before, as he is blatantly lying about the bedroom carpet (see below). If he had a mold tester, or a referral to one, that he trusted more than the (licensed) person I found in the yellow pages, he could have mentioned that to us, or he could have called her for us when we first had problems. Then he could feel confident in the results. He didn't do this. Not knowing anyone in the housing business in the area, we had to find someone on our own. (I'm sure if we had beend landlords with a history of working in the area instead of recent transplants, we could have gotten a personal reference, like he did, and wouldn't have had to use the Yellow Pages.) The person he consulted, at any rate, only saw a few pages of the full report, what I believed to be the critical pages when I faxed. Her comment: "Absent the inspectors notes and conclusions the statistical data is itself meaningless" is totally believable, as she did not have the full notes, just the core part I beleived necessary to fax. I do have the full notes. The inspector is certified to inspect for mold, and did give me a full report. If I had thought the $20 fax would have been the end of it, I would have done it. As it was, after seeing how unbeleiveing the owner was throughout the entire process, I didn't see a reason to spend a penny more than I had to to give him what I believed to be the core result of the report. I faxed what I believed to be the core report itself, just not its attached notes, and then focused on my new, serious medical problems, and the possibility of a legal case. 5. The hallways: There is a musty smell in the halls in our opinion, and was since we moved in, and we have "hard" photos (not digital photos, so I can't upload them without a scanner) of water damage on the walls in the halls. The water damage has since been plastered and painted over, so superficially it looked OK when we left. We have no idea what might be growing inside the hall walls, though. 6. My doctor: My doctor's opinion coincided with that of the mold inspector. In fact it was my doctor who originally said I was suffering from mold exposure. I never would have thought mold could do this, and I was mystified as to what illness I had. If the apartment is free of mold, why did I have the symptoms so clearly the doctor could tell there was mold where I was living, and was later confirmed correct by the inspector's report? My doctor, furthermore, predicted black mold (a specific species) on the basis of my symptoms, and it turned out there was indeed some of that type of mold in one of the rooms in the apartment, but not outdoors. The doctor says black mold is generally toxic to human beings, and my reaction to it is not just a matter of allergy or sensitivity. This could explain while my husband reacted as well as myself, though he has no known allergies (and I hadn't had any allergies since I was 12, until my reaction to this apartment). Given it was found in only one room in our apartment, probably most tenants in the building don't have this specfic type of mold, but who knows. 7. Lawyer consultation: I called the local Bar Assoc. and got a reference to a lawyer who specialized in both landlord/tenant issues and toxic exposure issues. We had a consultation with him. He said that because of the doctor and the mold report, and the types of mold, I had a case, and he would take the case. He said we could get every fee back in full, and the rent pro-rated from when we had to move, and our moving costs, all because the rental contract was essentially not honored and the place hazardous. In addition he said we could get all our medical bills paid for, and additional money in pain and suffering, and our lawyer fees. We were considering this in case we didn't get any money back. However, once we got at least the refundable portion of the deposit we decided not to go this route. We had so many stressors already, and health was an issue, and at least we got SOMETHING back. With an illness aggrivated by stress, I'd rather lose some money than go through the stress of a legal case. We have health insurance so the medical bills are managable, and the rest of the money woudln't be worth the stress, given all the other things that were happening, like the car accident and the new job. 8. Possible personal sensitivity/ other reasons other tenants might have not complained: I am from the Midwest, maybe my constitution is more sensitive than the other tenants who possibly grew up and developed their immune systems in the Northwest with much higher mold spore exposure. This is a new experience entirely for me, and my immune system seems to have seriously freaked out. Maybe the other tenants are used to it? Maybe (and this also seems quite possible to me) the problem was primarily in our apartment, and not in other apartments. I don't know why the owner says we are the first to get sick and complain (I orignally believed that, but since his cat pee lies (see below), I'm not so sure). But I know I got very sick, and my husband (also from the Midwest) got pretty sick himself, though not as bad as me. I know there are a lot of great reviews for this building, and I can understand them, as everything else was just fine. If you????????????re absolutely confident you don't have any ill reaction to mold, go ahead and move here. The owner is a blatant liar when it is in his interests (see below about the cat pee) but a hard worker when he needs to repair something mechanical, and he is OK to work with as long as you have no serious problems like ours. In addition the manager is extremely nice, and the apartments and are attractive and affordable, with tile granite countertops, new pergo framing new living room carpet, and so on. About the condition of the apartment when we left: 1. Outrageously bogus cat-pee lie: Our (long-time spayed, completely-box-trained) cat never ever EVER, not ONCE peed in the bedroom or ANYWHERE else out of her box. Not here, and not ANYWHERE else in the many years we????????????ve had her in multiple (3) other apartments. That is an absolute lie to make us look bad. It was an old carpet in the bedroom (the rest of the apt. had new flooring) and probably was replaced for that reason alone. Or it might have been replaced because the report showed high levels of mold in the bedroom, to the point that with the windows closed it smelled quite musty, and the landlord didn't want to risk making the next tenant sick with that particular apartment. Before we left the landlord said that if changing the carpet would be the end of the mold complaints, he would do that. He????????????d have never offered this if our cat had peed on the carpet, of course: landlords don't buy new carpet for an existing tenant if they know it will get immediately ruined. The smells in the bedroom when we left were Windex and must/mold. I'm sure if he changed the carpet it was not for anything to do with our cat. I got back my entire refundable portion of the rent; if the cat had peed outside the box, would that have happened? No, it would have been kept to pay the cost of replacement carpet, and that would have been an entirely legit reason for him to keep it. So, this accusation is a lie. The owner was with us in the bedroom when we had the mold inspection, and he had been in the apartment multiple times since we moved in, and NEVER said a precious word to us about the smell of cat pee, because there wasn????????????t any. I have family in the rental apartment business and have helped remove carpets that *actually* have cat pee. The stench is pungent and terrible and impossible to overlook. If we had had it, he????????????d have noticed before we left, and certainly before refunding the entire refundable portion of our deposit. 2. His excuse for keeping our non-refundable (but reportedly sometimes refunded) cleaning fee portion of the deposit: As I've said, the owner only mentioned cat pee here, and never before, not even in the context of keeping the non-refundable cleaning fee. When he kept the non-refundable cleaning portion of the deposit (which the manager said the owner sometimes gives back anyway if the place is clean), he said it was because we left hairs in the bathroom. I have photos to the contrary, and furthermore saw the maid go in just after we had finished cleaning and vacuuming without him checking. He couldn't have see hairs after we vaccumed, because he didn't see the apartment after that; he saw it only before, and then, after the maid was there. Apparently his story changed about that after he learned this? Now his story is something which, conveniently for him, couldn't show up in photos. I was being honest with everything to the best of my knowledge with my review. The landlord may disagree about the mold, he may believe that is a difference of opinion, but he is absolutely without a doubt lying about cat pee in the bedroom, or anywhere else other than the litter box. In conclusion: I have been dealing with serious medical issues since last contact, so decided to be satisfied with having the refundable of the security deposit back and that is all. Being quite sick until recently, I didn't want any more trouble or stress, so I dropped communication after faxing the critical section of the mold report and getting the security deposit back, and gave up on getting his portion of the mold inspection fee. If I wanted to push, with the evidence I have from the professional inspector and the doctor, I could have hired the lawyer and gotten a heck of a lot more money than the owner's portion of the mold test. I am through with the money I lost. I simply want to warn others so they go into the building knowing the health risks, and with the knowledge to understand the symptoms. If you are insensitive to mold, you see the positive things I have said about the place, as well as the many positive reviews on this website. Aside from the mold it is a nice place, so consider it. The landlord did, sort-of, try to work with us at the beginning of our mold complain, when the doctor diagnosed it, but wouldn't do an inspection himself, and didn't take our complaints seriously because we were (supposedly) the first to have problems. We might not be the last, though, so take care. I now intend to send management the extra notes that came with the report by mail (not fax), for the sake of the tenants still there. Even if they are not getting as sick as I was in the short-term, toxic mold exposure is still a risk factor for long-term problems like cancer and autoimmune disease.
From: sunridge101448	Date: 12/05/2008
This is the one and only tenant that has ever claimed to have been sick from mold in our building. When she first expressed her concerns I agreed to let her conduct a mold insection as I felt and continue to feel that our apartments as clean as any you will find anywhere. She hired someone from the yellow pages. She told me he was the cheapest she could find. As it turned out there was a reason why he was cheap, he was not a certified Industrial Hygienist. His background amounted to a few months of classes. I inturn contacted a Certified Industrial Hygienist whom I had never met but was referred to me and had her review his findings. She is an expert in environmental hygiene. She has had years of experience in mold and its effect on people in different environments. She told me she knew the individual that conducted the tests and that he did not have the background to accurately facillitate these tests or evaluate them. After reviewing his test results she told me his test lacks diagnostic reports giving existing conditions. She went on to say that the data was lacking information that would suggest a "smoking gun". Again she stated that his method of taking air samples was flawed and the conclusions he drew were wrong. "The scope of his data cannot be intelligently evaluated. Absent the inspectors notes and conclusions the statistical data is b itself meaningless". I told the tenant I would pay for her test if the results conclusively pointed to a failure on our part. When I tried to contact her she to related the findings of the certified industrial hygienist she never responded back. I responded to every issue that they brought to me. When they left the carpet in their bedroom was so stain from cat urine it had to be replaced. There is no musty smell in the hallways and again NO ONE has EVER become ill or express health concerns about mold in our building! The owner
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/08/2009
I am a current resident and I want to agree with the manager and owner that I have not experienced any illness due to mold. Furthermore, I would like to add that in the past, I have lived in an apartment that did mold problems. I became sick and my doctor confirmed that it was because of mold. Based of my past experience I would be able to easily recognize mold and sickness caused by it. I haven't experience any of that living here. The owner and manager are good honest people and don't seem like the type of people who lie, change their stories, or try to rip off the tenants. Obviously these people didn't like their apartment and had a bad experience when they left; seems like they took it personally for some reason. If you think you want to rent here you should come see (and smell) for yourself and not take this person's word for it. I like living here and haven't had a problem.

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