ORANGE, Texas — An Orange renter is seeking a refund after using $500 from her rent money to pay a company hired by the complex to remove mold from her apartment unit.
Yesterday on 12News, Brandie Richard said she has been forced to deal with the mold in her unit at the Sunset Grove Apartments for months.
The complex says she owed them more than $500 in back rent.
She says that she only withheld the $500 because she paid that amount towards extensive cleaning services to help get rid of the mold.
Richard has paid the remaining balance on her rent in order to stay in her apartment, but wants the complex to take responsibility for the mold issue by refunding her what she paid to fix it.
"It was folded and I opened it up and was like you gotta [got to] be kidding me," said Richard.
Hours after speaking with 12News, Richard returned home and found an eviction notice on her door.
"It was the order to vacate, three days to vacate," she said.
Since April, Richard has been dealing with ongoing mold issues at the Sunset Grove Apartments in Orange.
The complex hired an HVAC company to do a duct cleaning after she put in numerous requests and submitted results from an at-home mold test kit that she bought.
"The office said that they weren't gonna [going to] pay to pull the coils, that they were only gonna [going to] pay to clean out the vents," said Richard.
Richard was concerned about her health, so she agreed to pay the company for a thorough evaporator coil cleaning, which cost more than $500.
She took that money out of what she usually pays in rent, but the property manager did not have the same understanding of the situation.
"You have to pay the rent," said Servio property manager Kimberly Kumar. "And then, if anything comes of it, we can always credit it."
12News reached out to Judge Baylor Wortham for more insight.
"Mold is a hazard," he said.
Judge Wortham says Texas law requires a landlord to fix health and safety hazards as long as the tenant did not cause the damage and isn't behind on rent.
He also stressed that written documentation is a must in these cases.
"Somebody that verifies there's a problem and then will also give written notice to the property owner or landlord of the condition, such as the presence of mold," said Judge Wortham.
Judge Wortham says that the resident can meet with small claims court.
"She may still be able to seek relief with small claims court," said Judge Wortham. "I think if you get in front of one of the Justice of the Peace and show that it was an essential repair, I don't necessarily think it's foregone."
Richard plans to pursue the case.
"I wrote a check for $581 dollars and I'm gonna [going to] get an attorney, and I'll get it back," said Richard.
Richard says that she has not heard from the property managers after she paid the remaining rent balance, but hopes to get answers soon.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.