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An Australian mother is warning tenants after a horror discovery in her ‘perfect’ rental forced her to move out.
Kimberley McMahon was relieved to secure a tenancy at Werrington Downs in Sydney’s west, but just weeks after moving in, thick back mold sickened her young family.
Ms McMahon said a “terrible smell” began seeping through the walls last month, but at first she did not know where it was coming from.
After discovering a dangerous amount of thick black mold inside an air conditioner that wasn’t working and coming through the paint on the walls, she notified the property manager, who sent a handyman out.
Kimberley McMahon was relieved to secure a tenancy at Werrington Downs in Sydney’s west, but just weeks after moving in thick back mold sickened her young family
After discovering a dangerous amount of thick black mold inside a malfunctioning air conditioner that was coming through the paint on the walls, she notified the property manager
“We could see it coming through the paint and I emailed the property manager directly and I said you can’t just paint over mold and expect it not to grow through,” she shared 7NEWS.
Ms McMahon came down with a sore throat and her daughter, who is immunocompromised, came down with a chesty cough, a runny nose and a sore throat.
The family believes it is a direct result of the mold inside the home.
After a fight with their landlord, the family managed to get their ties back and have the lease broken.
Ms McMahon was shocked to learn that a new family has moved into the property and said she was almost going to contact the new tenants and warn them.
She said the whole ordeal made her angry because the property manager made her feel ‘stupid’.
Ms McMahon said the landlord made her feel she didn’t know what she was talking about but was happy to let her go when she complained enough.
“Usually we are very careful and inspect the homes for mold, but we couldn’t tell this time when we had inspected and we were just pretty desperate to find a house with this rental crisis,” she said.
Australian mum warns tenants after horror discovery in her ‘perfect’ rental forced her to move out
The property company leasing the property said the tenant was ‘quite distressed and wanted to leave, which they did after a three-week tenancy’.
The mold problem was reported on February 19th in the back of a low cabinet in the kitchen.
“This (mold) has since been repaired and we have procured trades to look after, inspect and remediate any remaining traces of mold on the property,” the spokesman said.
According to NSW Fair Trading, managing mold risk is ‘a shared responsibility’ between tenants and property providers in NSW.
Tenants are encouraged to notify their landlord or property manager of any mold or maintenance issues as soon as possible.
More information can be found on the Fair Trading website.