
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 4, 1994                    TAG: 9406030508 
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY                     PAGE: 13    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: William Mazel and Albert Teich Jr. 
DATELINE: 940604                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHEN A HOME BECOMES A HEALTH RISK

{LEAD} My 18-year-old daughter rented a small, one-bedroom apartment last year. The lease runs until Sept. 1.

A few days after she moved in, the water heater ruptured, flooding her apartment and the adjoining one. The management company's representatives entered her unit that day to fix the heater.

{REST} The next day, the company sent some people over to vacuum the water out of the carpet and padding. They got most, but not all, of the water out.

My daughter has been a severe asthmatic since birth, and she started having breathing problems in the damp unit. Her doctor advised her to move out of the apartment immediately because the carpet and padding probably harbored mold and mildew.

The doctor added that the carpet and padding should have been removed immediately and replaced. At the very least, both should have been thoroughly dried.

Later, the water heater again ruptured - but this time, a week went by before the management company dried the carpeting. The company refused to replace it.

The managers say my daughter can give them two months' notice that she is leaving the unit. If she does not find a tenant to replace her, they will hold her liable for the rent until the lease is up.

We cannot re-rent the apartment because the damp odor is terrible. What can we do?

Regardless of what the law says, your daughter should move out of the unit immediately before her health further declines.

Under the law, the landlord is required to provide a fit and safe property. An apartment where hot water heaters burst, flood the unit, soak the carpeting and allow mold to grow is neither a fit nor safe property for anyone.

Normally, when a landlord commits a breach of duty that endangers a tenant's health, the tenant may terminate the lease and move. But the tenant must move soon after realizing that the landlord is not going to fix the problem quickly.

If a tenant remains in the apartment for a while, this will indicate that the problem does not immediately threaten the tenant's health.

Your daughter remained in the property for several months after the hot water heater first ruptured. We hope this won't diminish her legal rights in the matter.

by CNB