University students put a face to an issue that, in the past, city officials believed they were dramatically affected by but constantly absent from. The EMU Board Room was filled to standing room only Tuesday night when students shared horror story after horror story, countering many landlords’ arguments that mold issues are a result of tenants’ mistreatment of property.
The city’s Rental Housing Department Committee hosted the forum in an effort to get students engaged in the controversial issue of mold in residences and to discuss which party is to blame. The city’s housing code is plagued by the ambiguous situation of mold: Tenants mostly blame landlords for not providing adequate solutions to prevent mold, while landlords often blame students’ lifestyles for the mildew growth.
“My mold was pretty nasty. We always used the fan in our bathroom and dried our clothes in the dryer. We didn’t have plants or aquariums,” said Courtney Weyrauch, a University student. “Its not always the tenant’s fault, and they should be protected with some kind of city code.”
The forum was part of a series of meetings that will ultimately lead to the Rental Housing
Department Committee making a suggestion to the city council. The committee’s recommendation has not yet been made, but the document will indicate whether or not the council should add mold to the already-established housing code. If it is included, the recommendation will state under what provisions the code should exist.
Students severely plagued by mold discussed how it affects more than just the infrastructure of their homes. Some students spoke of mold penetrating the walls of their closets, into their personal belongings and clothing. University students Michelle Haley and Andrew Cox are tenants whose mold problems adversely encroached on their lives. The recently married couple signed a lease without seeing the apartment and began noticing gray splotches on their walls immediately after moving in.
“The landlord blamed it on a poor paint job,” Haley said. “We eventually identified it as mold. Our landlord instructed us to get a box fan to air out the room, but the mold just keeps spreading.”
Cox said he spends six hours every few weeks scrubbing the mold off with bleach-water, only to see it reappear shortly thereafter.
Students’ alarming experiences were followed with comments from landlords and other community members about the importance of proceeding slowly with such a sensitive issue.
“I caution the city to tread carefully, not to dream up rules and regulations without researching the issue further. Who is even going to pay for it?” landlord Jim Anderson said.
Amanda Tuski, co-owner of Bell Real Estate, doesn’t want mold included in the housing code. However, she urged the committee to hire a mold specialist who would inspect tenants’ situations should the city council add mold regulations to the housing code. She suggested the city include a stipulation in the code holding tenants responsible for the cost of a mold inspector, should the inspector decide the mold problem is tenant-caused.
The forum took place on campus to balance the comments the committee was hearing from landlords. Tony Mecum, the University representative on the committee, was content with the student turnout for the committee.
“The turnout was a really good balance between the students and the landlords, something that is usually impossible to get at our 8 a.m. meetings,” he said.
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