Troubleshooters: Woman says her apartment is a lemon

A Wilmington woman is paying $900 a month for her two bedroom apartment, and she says it’s a lemon.

Despite extensive efforts to keep the apartment dry, there is so much moisture in the unit it’s growing mold.

Bonnie Roosa was willing to pay a premium for her apartment at the Colonial Grand off Saint Andrews Drive in Wilmington.

“The reason that I chose to live here was I thought they had a lot to offer, and I felt that it would be a step above — Just a nice place, a better place to live,” said Roosa.

But she says since she moved in, she has had ongoing problems with bugs, leaky plumbing, leaky windows, and mold.

“I did go out and buy the oscillating fan, and I did buy the damp rid for the closets, but that’s as much of the expense as I’m going to incur,” said Roosa.

The moisture problems persisted, so her landlords suggested she buy a dehumidifier for the apartment. But when she found out that would cost several hundred dollars, she finally put her foot down.

Roosa said, “I wanted another apartment, but I wanted them to pay to move me to another apartment. I wasn’t going to pay that because of their responsibility. Now I just want the contract null and void. It’s not worth my time.”

But does bonnie really have a legal leg to stand on?

Wilmington attorney Thom Goolsby says yes.

Goolsby said, “There have been huge multimillion dollar judgments where people have come down with diseases directly related to mold, and it wasn’t properly remediated and a landlord has a responsibility to do everything reasonable to make that happen. Now if it’s a situation where a tenant simply is not keeping the apartment clean, they’re not running the air conditioning, the way it’s meant to be run, sure that’s a tenants problem, but, if a landlord has an improper system, an old system, and they don’t want to spend the money and fix it, and have the property in habitable condition, it’s their fault”

Managers for Colonial Grand never returned our phone call, but they finally did respond to Bonnie’s complaints after we got involved.

They have hired contractors to figure out a more permanent solution to the moisture problem.

She says they have also agreed to let her out of her lease, so she can find a drier place to call home.

Attorneys say tenants should document every problem you have with your landlord.

If something in your apartment breaks, it’s fine to call your landlord first to notify them of the problem, but you also need to follow up with a letter or an e-mail about the problem, and keep a copy for your records.

For more information about tenants legal rights, visit the website for the North Carolina Department of Justice.