AboutJonathan Dever, Esq Expertise Real Estate Law, Buying Selling, Investor, all types of acquiring property through "creative techniques" and fraud avoidance
Experience Super Lawyer by Law and Politics for the last three years, part of over 900 transactions in the last 6 years
Organizations Ohio Bar Assn
Greene County Bar Assn
Champaign County Bar Assn
Publications Personal web site and web articles
Education/Credentials JD - Capital University
MA - IU of Penn
BA - U of Cincinnati
Awards and Honors Super Lawyer 2005, 2006, 2007
Who is Who, Lawyers 2006, 2007
There appears to be a leak above my bedroom because there is now a brown spot close to the door on my ceiling. This spot is now growing pink mold. I have spoken to my apartment landlord and all he does is send a maintenance man to spray paint over it. The paint flakes off and the problem persists. I have explained to the landlord that the paint over it approach will not work, but they won't do anything else. The leak was not there when I moved in and it appears to be linked with the washing machine. The spot on the ceiling does not drip. I have tried looking into Florida statutes on this matter, but I don't know if this qualifies as a landlord responsibility to remove the mold and fix the leaky pipe. If it does who should I contact to get my landlord to take more aggressive action on this matter? Thank you.
Answer Mold issues are largely placed on the party responsible. If the tenant causes the problem, typically they are charged for the fix. If it comes from another source (ie faulty roof, downspouts, etc..) the landlord has the burden of remedying the problem. The issue is what constitutes a problem, and whether it is the type of mold that is a health danger. The best solution is to escrow your rent with the Court, and ask the Judge to find a solution. He will be forced to fix the mold problem before the Court gives him your rent money.
