Hi for a month now I have been struggling with the growth of fungus in the unit that I am currently renting in. I informed my real estate agent who sent plumbers to check the property leakage of any pipes. Later my real estate agent got back to me in regards to what the plumbers told her. To rectify the fungus issue they told me ventilate the unit. I leave Windows open all day every day ,I never dry damp clothes in my unit and I don't have a clothes dryer too. I took on the advice and cleaned all the fungus on the 13th of June and the fungus came back on the 26th of June. Am running out of options as this fungus has spread to 60% of my furniture and am not getting any help from my real estate agent. Please help
What did she say the plumbers reported? .... Have you talked to agent again since mould has reappeared? .... What did agent say?
Call your local council tomorrow.... ask if they have a public & environmental health officer that could come out & have a look ... They will identify the mould & hopefully give you some idea of health & property risk .... Ask if it can be provided in writing on a council letterhead.
If the health officer is concerned it is a risk, contact the RE agent immediately .... If the cause is found to be with the property & not you, (plumbers report may help with that) then you are within your rights to terminate any lease effective immediately & to seek compensation for damaged property......But first, you need to get a professional in there to evaluate the extent of the problem & source if the plumbers report does not identify it
Take pics of mould including on your furniture for later evidence if required...
Thank you for getting back to me
What the plumbers told us is different from what my agent told us what the plumbers reported to her.
The plumbers told us that they will tell their supervisor what they have observed and will get a buliding inspector to come have a look as the only 2 units affected with mould and fungus are the our unit and the unit next to us whereas the top 2 units have no issues at all.
What my real estate agent told us that the plumbers informed her that it's poor ventilation and we have to leave Windows open and exhaust fans on while cooking and in the shower,she also told her to clean the mould and dry the walls up (which we did and I took pictures of the extensive cleaning)
But the mould started reappearing again in 13 days of time. We contacted our agent and told her and she said you just have to keep on cleaning.
Now my other furniture which was not affected by fungus have started showing signs of fungus infection
I would be keeping receipts for cleaning costs .... See if you can get a health officer in there ASAP as per my first post. Depending on their assessment, escalate your complaint to Consumer affairs >>> Mould in a rented home
If it's found unfit for human habitation, the residential tenancies act gives you the right to notify the agent that you intend to vacate... You may be able to seek compensation as well
Hi so I contacted my local council Kingston council and they said they couldn't help me as it's not anything the council can help me with. How ever she did advice me to call Health Victoria in regards to the mould affecting our health. Same day I called Health Victoria and left a message for someone to reach me regarding mould in rental property. Someone did call me and said they couldn't help me as well as this is a health property and they can't send a health officer too. She did advice me to contact Consumer Affairs Victoria to see of they could help me. I am losing hope now as it seems like there is really no help for is tenants in regards to this matter. I did some investigating and found out that my neighbour in the next unit is experiencing the same thing likewise for the building next to us too. Its only the bottom units affected and not a top .
I have constantly been emailing my agent about this but she's not proactive at all. She keeps telling me to clean and ventilate the unit as I have been doing that since we moved in here. I asked the other people living in the bottom units and they all are affected by mould. What can we do??
Pity the council can't help .... There are some free mould inspection/quote services in Melbourne.... Perhaps they could identify the mould you have there & supply a quote that you could pass on to the agent ...
My next step would be to ecalate the complaint to consumer affairs ..... I would also be getting the other affected tenants to do the same so that the extent of the problem is evident
