Jared is “sick all the time” and he knows why.
It’s because he lived for too long in a dank Burnaby basement suite that was filled with mold that couldn’t be seen.
The Burnaby renter has since moved because he couldn’t get his landlords – an elderly couple – to spend the money it would take to clean up the mold and fix the problem causing it.
“It was a couple of months after I moved in that I started to feel sicker and sicker,” Jared said. “My doctor couldn’t figure it out at first and then told me that he suspected it was something I was breathing in at home. I spoke with my landlords and they were sympathetic at first, but when I said they needed to bring in someone to investigate that’s when they turned cold. They just didn’t want to spend the money. I ended up spending money I didn’t really have to have someone inspect the place and they found the mold hidden behind the walls, likely caused by dripping water because the place was so old.”
After presenting the report to his landlords, they simply refused to spend any money to have a professional fix the situation.
“The old guy tried to do it himself and that was a joke,” Jared said.
And so, Jared was faced with two options – filed a complaint with the Residential Tenancy Branch or move out.
He chose moving out because he figured it was too dangerous to go through the entire process, all while still breathing in toxic air.
“But I feel bad for the next tenant,” he said.
This is a complaint I’ve heard from more than one reader lately.
Jason wrote me about moving into a place in New Westminster and how he “started feeling more and more sluggish and symptoms started happening, eyes itchy, fatigue, hard to breathe, felt high, but couldn’t pinpoint.”
He tried to talk to management, but they said it was nothing. All he wanted was an air quality test but the landlords obviously didn’t want to hear possible bad news.
Meanwhile, Jason ended up also moving out, but has struggled with his health ever since.
Landlords need to realize that there is more to the role than just collecting money each month, especially if you own an older home.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
