Woman describes living in “moldy” apartment, says complaints ignored
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – More stories from tenants at the Veridian Apartments in Lexington. Residents there saying they’re finding mold in their apartments they believe has been there for months, while still dealing with the aftermath from last month’s winter storm.
ABC 36 attended a tenant rally Wednesday where people shared stories of being without water for several days after that storm and then dealing with burst pipes and water damage well after the water was turned back on.
We spoke with one tenant on Thursday who chose to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. She says she’s desperate to get out but wants to share the details of what she’s been living in.
“I put a request in for mold like three times and I had to go down to the office to actually talk to them in person to get them to actually do it,” she says. “They painted it, that’s all they did. They didn’t take out any of the drywall or anything you’d think that they would do.”
The tenant says she moved into the Veridian in October with her fiance. She says upon moving in, she noticed the hall closet was covered with what she says looks like black mold.
“I asked if I could see the apartment I would be getting before I would sign my lease. They said no, it’s under construction being worked on and then I said ok, that’s fine, I’ll come back a different day when it’s fixed. Came back whenever the day I had to sign my lease, which was on a Sunday because I was from out-of-state, still, they wouldn’t let me look at it before I signed. Whenever I did sign, that’s when I could go in and actually look around and that’s when I found a closet full of mold,” the tenant says. “All they did was paint it, and currently to this day it’s seeping back through the paint.”
The tenant worries about the health of her and her fiance. She says in the last four months, they’ve each had two sinus infections and wake up each morning unable to breathe out of their noses.
“It’s causing us to be congested every day and have to take like Claritin and all kinds of stuff that we never took before,” she says. “The air quality is not very good with the duct work smelling like it’s wet. Like you know, that mildewy smell? It smells like that.”
Not only is she facing what she thinks is a mold problem, but she’s also living above a condemned apartment. The condemnation notice on the door lists some of the violations as being structurally unsafe and needing to remove wet or moldy drywall.
“As like these apartments on my building are slowly being condemned, more and more people that live there in the other apartments are leaving,” the tenant says.
The tenant says she gave the Veridian her 60-day notice Thursday so she and her fiance are able to find a new place to live.
Wednesday, ABC 36 called and left voicemails with both the Veridian leasing office and the attorney listed on a vacate letter given to another tenant, but never received a call back.
Thursday, ABC 36 went to the leasing office in person to ask the Veridian for comment. The Veridian tells us it won’t comment and that they “don’t do anything with any type of news company, newspapers, anything like that.” When asked if there was a general manager or higher-up we could speak to, we were told we were speaking with the assistant manager and they “don’t talk to anybody.”
ABC 36 has also reached out with a phone call and voicemail to the developers of the Veridian for comment but has not heard back. We will continue to follow this story as the situation develops.
