JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Middleburg mother, who’s raising a 2-year-old that she says has chronic respiratory problems, tells the News4JAX I-TEAM that she’s concerned mold in their rental home is making the child’s condition worse.
Mallory Teschendorf is raising the child by herself while her husband is deployed in the U.S. Navy. She said the mold in her rental home has been an ongoing problem that the property management company should have taken care of months ago.
According to Teschendorf, the problem began last summer when heavy rain caused flooding. She says all that excess water and humidity caused mold to grow under the floor, behind the walls and inside the air vents.
“You want a healthy environment for your children, and you want a safe environment, and I can’t even provide that to her when they’re leaving my floor and my house like this and refusing to do what’s asked,” Tescehndorf said.
Tescehndorf said she has asked Main Street Renewal, the company that manages the home she rents, to get rid of the mold that has been growing inside the home since the summer of last year. She recorded video that she said shows a maintenance worker blowing the vents with a hose. Tescehdorf says it was not enough to kill the mold.
“They said they did an eye test and that it was fine. And then they spray-painted over the vents,” Tescehndorf said.
Experts say painting over mold only hides mold for a short period of time and does not kill mold spores or prevent the spores from spreading in the air and being inhaled.
Tescehndorf said her daughter suffers from a respiratory issue that requires her to undergo a doctor-prescribed treatment daily.
As for the floor, Tescehdorf says last summer a storm caused flooding, which left water under the floor for several months. That water and humidity caused mold to grow under the laminate wood, which had to be removed.
“Over the past three months, they have just progressively been taking little pieces of my floor and wall out and now it has left me with this,” Tescehndorf said.
In back-and-forth emails with the company, she asked to have the mold tested beyond an eye test. But she tells News4JAX that her request went unanswered.
The I-TEAM was provided a copy of her lease agreement, which addresses mold prevention. In the first paragraph, it clearly advises renters to “promptly report” moisture problems and mold growth to the property manager.
News4JAX contacted Main Street Renewal, asking if the process is taking months to fix and if the mold was professionally tested. The company sent a statement that reads in part:
“We continue to work with our resident to make necessary repairs to this home, and we are eager to resolve this matter for our resident. Consistent with our policy for residents experiencing longer-term repair projects, we have offered to find a new home for this resident at no cost in another of our properties. We are focused every day on providing safe, secure, and high-quality housing for America’s renters.”
Teschendorf said Main Street Renewal did offer her the opportunity to move to another property, but she said the locations they were offering were $400 more than the $1,600 she is currently paying for rent.
Tescendorf said she filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and is considering hiring a lawyer to go after the rental company.
Apparently, Teschendorf isn’t the only renter who has issues with Main Street Renewal. According to the Better Business Bureau, there have been 799 complaints filed against the rental company from all over the country.
BBB President Tom Stephens says Main Street Renewal has homes in 30 states, and every time a complaint was filed, it was forwarded to the Better Business Bureau in Texas, where Main Street Renewal’s home office is located.
According to the BBB, it appears the company responded to each complaint that was filed.
LINK: Basic facts about mold and dampness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention