ORANGE, Texas — An Orange resident spent money out of her own pocket to attempt to resolve the mold issue at her Sunset Grove Apartment unit.
Brandie Richard, a resident at Sunset Grove, says she is concerned about her health after living with mold inside her apartment unit for months.
The apartment complex hired a company to clean the mold, but they gave the bill to Richard.
There has been an increase of mold issue cases, according to the City of Orange.
Richard says she doesn't believe that she should have to suffer with health issues she did not cause.
"I started noticing it back in April, and I kept telling the AC guys, y'all don't smell that," said Richard.
The first fuzzy, dark spot appeared in the living room of Richard's apartment unit.
"It was just totally infested with the grey mold, the black mold, the white mold," she said.
Later, she discovered another mold spot, which was located on the kitchen air vent.
"The mold was so severe that you could smell it when the AC came on," said Richard. "It was very, very strong."
She took matters into her own hands after filing numerous of maintenance requests that went unanswered.
"I did the mold test, which you put in the vent for 10 minutes and it came back," she said. "You have pictures of that, of the mold, how bad it was."
Richard turned the tests over to the on-site management at the apartment complex.
"I mean, I'm sick, and it was all over everything," she said.
Management hired Air Services Unlimited to clean the mold. The company told Richard that a deeper cleaning was needed to fully fix the problem, but left her to pay the bill that totaled over $500.
"I don't think I should be responsible for paying," she said. "I want them to pay me back or take it off my rent."
Randy Holman, a building inspector, says the City of Orange was called out to the same apartment complex in May to inspect a similar situation at the apartment's laundry mat.
"Upon investigation at that apartment, mold spores were severe," said Holman. "We notified them that we put an inhabitable dwelling notice on that door, for no tenants to go in until these repairs were met."
Holman says a contractor has not contacted the City of Orange for a permit to fix the issue on behalf of Sunset Grove Apartments.
Richard says she wants a permanent fix for her unit because she is scared for her health.
"Cough, hard to breathe sometimes," she said. "I get out of breath really, really bad." "We're paying rent and it's done nothing but cause health problems for me."
The on-site assistant property manager and the A/C company declined to comment on the issue. The company that owns the apartment complex did not respond to our requests for comments.
Just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Richard received an eviction notice stating she has 3 days to leave the apartment unit.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.