When there is a hole in your kitchen wall big enough for rats to enter, you expect your landlord to act quickly. This client did too. She reported it immediately. Her landlord did nothing – and that was only the beginning of the disrepair she was left to live with.
When a rented home has a persistent ceiling leak, the moisture has to go somewhere. In this case, it went into the walls and ceilings of the rooms where two children slept – creating the conditions for mould to grow and spread while their landlord looked the other way.
“I didn’t think it was serious enough.” It is one of the most common things we hear from tenants when they first get in touch with NJS Law. They have been living with damp, mould or leaks for months, reporting it time and again, being ignored – and yet they have convinced themselves that their situation does not rise to the level where they could do anything about it.
Mould in a rented property is never just a cosmetic problem, and it is never “just a bit of mould.” Left untreated, it spreads – and it spreads faster than most people realise. This case shows exactly what happens when a landlord is told about mould and simply does nothing.
