Need help. Please let me know your thoughts.

I am having trouble with mold in my apartment. My snakes are in the living room. There is no mold in the room my snakes are in. The place where mold does exist is in a room as far from my enclosures as possible. You have to walk around the hall past the kitchen and down the hall again to get to the spare bedroom. The humidity in my enclosures are 50 to 70%. The room they are in is at 15 to 20 percent. The room with mold is at 30 to 35. The apartment is trying to blame my enclosures for the mold issues in the room not associated with them. They have requested I relocate them by the 31st of this month. I agreed to move out on the 31st and be done with them. They say I have to give a 30 day notice on 9/1/2019 to get out of the lease with a 750 fee on top of paying another months rent when they are requesting me to get my animals out by 8/31.

Can my enclosures be causing this or am I correct that they are trying to cover up a preexisting condition?

Is it legal what they are trying to do?

Should I just hire a lawyer?

So I am not a pro at rentals, but if you did not inform them of your snakes, and did not pay a pet deposit for them, I believe you are technically breaking the lease by having them. They can give you a 30 day notice. If they knew about the snakes, then I don't know.

If the mold were from your enclosures, it would show up near them first before spreading from that as the center of it. With it only being far away from them and not surrounding the cages, I would assume it is either preexisting mold issues or related to faulty/dripping plumbing in the walls causing a new mold issue they want to avoid dealing with.

No legal experience here, but if you pay a pet rent fee and/or they knew about and agreed (especially written) to you having them before/when they arrived, it seems like they shouldn't have much ability to do what they're trying to do. It seems like either of those cases would mean they knew the risks of allowing it and agreed to them. Pet rent is part of your contract and there's usually terms to protect tenants from sudden rent changes or terms changes, so that might be relevant and something to review the wording of.

Talking to a lawyer would probably be your best move. They'll know for sure, especially for your area, if it is legal or not and what recourse you have.

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

I am having trouble with mold in my apartment. My snakes are in the living room. There is no mold in the room my snakes are in. The place where mold does exist is in a room as far from my enclosures as possible. You have to walk around the hall past the kitchen and down the hall again to get to the spare bedroom. The humidity in my enclosures are 50 to 70%. The room they are in is at 15 to 20 percent. The room with mold is at 30 to 35. The apartment is trying to blame my enclosures for the mold issues in the room not associated with them. They have requested I relocate them by the 31st of this month. I agreed to move out on the 31st and be done with them. They say I have to give a 30 day notice on 9/1/2019 to get out of the lease with a 750 fee on top of paying another months rent when they are requesting me to get my animals out by 8/31.

Can my enclosures be causing this or am I correct that they are trying to cover up a preexisting condition?

Is it legal what they are trying to do?

Should I just hire a lawyer?

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Enclosures are typically pretty self contained. You’d have to have massive amounts of mold in your enclosures for an extended period of time for it to spread and become established within the apartment. Houses/apartments can commonly get mold without enclosures or animals of any kind. Definitely seems like they’re trying to dodge responsibility and put all fault on you. A lawyer might be a good investment. Sounds like a giant pain, good luck!


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I had a mold issue years ago when I was living in Indianapolis. Mold began showing up under my cat's litter box. I still highly doubt it was the litter box as she never peed on the carpet - I think it was a mixture of a leak under the carpet plus the mat under the box holding the moisture in. In any case, they never made any noise about the cat because I paid my dues for her every month, per my lease agreement, and they fixed the problem with a small deductible from me (again, per my lease).

Read over your lease agreement carefully and see what your rights are in this situation. In my experience, good apartment complexes don't make demands that are outside of their agreements, and if they do, they back off quickly when you pull out the lease. If you have a signed lease agreement and they still aren't abiding by it, that's the time to go to a lawyer.

If you don't have any agreement signed between you and the owners, you're most likely out of luck... going to a lawyer will only make things way more expensive for you. And you'll probably have to vacate before anything gets done anyway.

#Not likely.

#Maybe depends on your lease agreement, what is the pet policy? (type of pet allowed, number allowed). Can you have them in the first place?

#If you are not wanted there leave don't waste time or money on a lawyer because even if you win, you will still be unwanted,and they can make your life miserable if you stay and they do not want you there.

What exactly does your lease state about pets?

Are you still in a fixed-term lease or is it currently month-to-month?

Is there a bathroom or kitchen close to the room with the mold? Any water leaks from roof or windows? How well-ventilated is that room?

Have you tried cleaning the mold yourself?

I think your best bet is to move. If you're butting heads with your landlord that won't change. Especially if you bring lawyers into things. I've had a landlord that wanted me out and that's a crappy feeling hovering overhead.


Without knowing the exact terminology of your lease I can't offer any more info.

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Originally Posted by MarkL1561

Enclosures are typically pretty self contained. You’d have to have massive amounts of mold in your enclosures for an extended period of time for it to spread and become established within the apartment. Houses/apartments can commonly get mold without enclosures or animals of any kind. Definitely seems like they’re trying to dodge responsibility and put all fault on you....

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I totally agree with this (they are using this as an excuse, perhaps, to make you move?), but it's probably best to move...mold isn't good for you or your pets anyway.

All depends what your lease agreement says as far as what is legal for them to hold you accountable for. Read it carefully, if you didn't before...& get help if
you think you're being taken advantage of...yours wouldn't be the first landlords to try it. Been many many years since I've rented, but I've fought a landlord
& won when they tried to keep my deposits to cover their losses from other tenants (they later admitted that to me). I'll admit that I fought a little dirty though ;) I told them if they didn't refund my deposit I was going to let some total dirtbags move in (in my place) & then they deal with evicting them. They
didn't like that idea at all & I got a prompt payment of money they owed me. (You do have to look as though you mean what you say, I guess I fooled them?)

I'd also be asking what's on the other side of the walls of the room where the mold is...are you on a top floor apt? Probably a roof leak that is coming down
inside the walls, but could also be a plumbing leak causing the moisture.

Read your lease agreement. Is there a clause regarding pets? Does it specify domestic or exotic pets? Does it mention size restrictions or anything that would indicate it is referring to dogs and cats? If so, you can make an argument that your snakes don't fall under that clause. There are numerous leases that would allow pets like fish because they are not considered "pets" under their definition, so it depends on what it says and how they define what makes a pet, a pet.

If exotics are listed not allowed under any curcumstances at the time you renewed or sign off on your lease, mold or no mold, you can't keep them.

If exotics are included as pets but there is a monthly or mandatory fee, you may still be able to keep them by agreeing to pay said fees or leave with your animals.

The burden of proof will probably fall on them if they insist your enclosures are the cause or encourage mold growth. I would not so sure to say that enclosures alone have nothing to do with it. They could try to argue it is not just the enclosures, but the maintenance and equipment that is causing or making the mold issue worse.

If you wish to stay, then hire a lawyer. They might back down rather quickly and leave you alone, at least temporarily, until they find something else to bother you with.

Depending on how long you have stayed, some states have a law where the landlord must give you a specific time period to leave that could extend to more than 30 days from the date of notice. Check your state's law and know your rights.

Not too long ago I had to deal with such a situation. Land lord wanted me to pay the whole lease( 1 yr. ) to move out. But I pulled the lease out and he had to back down. He had my starting date wrong and I still was able to give him the notice required.
But one thing I learned is renter's have the rentee's by the ... (well you know.) That's right by the wallet. These lease's are drawn up to pretty much say they can do whatever and you have to follow the rules they have and that's pretty much that's the way it is. And if you want out early, YOU PAY
With the cost of lawyers I don't know about a lawyer but you can maybe look up the rules of your state. But most lease's are drawn up to follow them because most the time laws go in favor of lessor's.
If you didn't move out and they give you notice because you didn't get rid of your snakes, will you still have to pay the fine of 750 ? And how many days will you have to be out? These things depend on the state I figure.
They might just not like you having snakes, some people hate snakes and knowing they are in the building makes them nervous. They might have had complaints about it. Don't know. If snakes violated the agreement I figure they would tell you that. But instead use the mold excuse.

Here's the big question? Is selling your snakes an option? Maybe some with temporary homes. That way you can make some money save having to pay 750 and then when things change down the road get some more snakes or (some back.) Some people on here ( breeders sell snake's all the time ) would you be willing to do that, the other way will cost you quite a bit of money and then give you a bad reference as well. Just saying something to consider.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonsrock2

But one thing I learned is renter's have the rentee's by the ... (well you know.) That's right by the wallet.

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As a landlord, I see it the opposite way. Good luck getting somebody out in a timely manner if you want/need to. Especially if they have kids.
You can get them out EVENTUALLY, but it's gonna be a long 90 days or more and you can bet the place will be trashed once they're finally out.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

As a landlord, I see it the opposite way. Good luck getting somebody out in a timely manner if you want/need to. Especially if they have kids.
You can get them out EVENTUALLY, but it's gonna be a long 90 days or more and you can bet the place will be trashed once they're finally out.

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This varies greatly by state law. MA is not landlord-friendly and you're right, it can take months to legally evict a tenant.

Until we know specifically what OP's lease states about animals, where he is in the lease (in the first year, in the month-to-month period, etc), and what his lease states about terminating it, we really can't give good advice.

We also don't know how the landlord/management company became aware of the issue or what has been attempted to clean it up; some types of mold don't need a whole lot to remediate. Also OP should clean it up as best he can, because if the management company has to do it that cost will come out of the security deposit.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

As a landlord, I see it the opposite way. Good luck getting somebody out in a timely manner if you want/need to. Especially if they have kids.
You can get them out EVENTUALLY, but it's gonna be a long 90 days or more and you can bet the place will be trashed once they're finally out.

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My recent experience comes from the state of Virginia where my Land Lord was ruthless and dishonest. I had seen many evicted less than 30 days. Sheriffs would come and make them leave and all their stuff was piled outside for people to grab. His leases would automatically renew which means if you didn't give 60 days days written notice before the lease starting date you were stuck for another year and he would constantly take people to court to get every cent from them. This was a trailer park and he would take their trailers.
One guy was so mad he burned his trailer down to keep the Land Lord from getting it. I had seen many victims of his Legal maneuvers. Hope Skyrivers doesn't live in Virginia.

Isn't Sky in Texas?

If it is in texas and they used the generic texas rental agreement, should be down around clause 21 or so. It will list specifically the rules regarding pets. Mine says no dogs or cats, but caged animals are allowed. Definitely check the lease.

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Ok... so now they are willing to let me out of my lease on the 31st with no penalty. They said after we do a walkthrough on the 31st, as long as not damage to the apartment is present, they will sign off and let me leave owing nothing. I am lucky this is working out this way. Will be moving next weekend in with a friend while I house shop to buy so I wont have to deal with this again.

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

Ok... so now they are willing to let me out of my lease on the 31st with no penalty. They said after we do a walkthrough on the 31st, as long as not damage to the apartment is present, they will sign off and let me leave owing nothing. I am lucky this is working out this way. Will be moving next weekend in with a friend while I house shop to buy so I wont have to deal with this again.

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Sounds like they are half decent people. They probably found or have renters ready to take your place so unless there's damage they're not worried. Better to have your own place. Let us know how it goes.

I am happy to hear things are semi working out for you.

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

Ok... so now they are willing to let me out of my lease on the 31st with no penalty. They said after we do a walkthrough on the 31st, as long as not damage to the apartment is present, they will sign off and let me leave owing nothing. I am lucky this is working out this way. Will be moving next weekend in with a friend while I house shop to buy so I wont have to deal with this again.

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I would get the bolded part in writing. In real-estate transactions anything that is verbal, in texts, or in emails is irrelevant; only agreements on paper and signed are enforceable. This also is true when buying a house; if info in the MLS is incorrect and you don't catch it, that's on you not the seller/real-estate agents.

After you have moved everything out, do your own walk-through take pictures and DVR of the condition of the apartment, especially the area they claimed there was mold present. Then do the final walkthrough with the landlord.

I was both a tenant and a landlady for many years and saw shady dealings from both sides, so you need to protect yourself.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I would get the bolded part in writing. In real-estate transactions anything that is verbal, in texts, or in emails is irrelevant; only agreements on paper and signed are enforceable. This also is true when buying a house; if info in the MLS is incorrect and you don't catch it, that's on you not the seller/real-estate agents.

After you have moved everything out, do your own walk-through take pictures and DVR of the condition of the apartment, especially the area they claimed there was mold present. Then do the final walkthrough with the landlord.

I was both a tenant and a landlady for many years and saw shady dealings from both sides, so you need to protect yourself.

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For sure.