Mold in Apartment

It is your landlords responsibility to not only fix the leak but to suck the water from the carpet and clean it after to prevent mold. The carpet will be damp after a cleaning, but it should dry within a day. If it is not, than something is not right, and they should be trying to work with you on fixing the problem. Mold is very dangerous for everyone not just people with allergies. It can cause a myriad of resperatory infections etc. I would take pictures, document all of your requests for fixing the issue, as well as the solutions they have provided including photos and discriptions of what happened after the cleaners left. Put all of this information into a letter which is dated and signed, and send it to your landlord via certified mail so that you have a signature of receipt, requesting a solution and letting them know that you will be staying in a hotel till the problem is fixed and the hotel will be at the landlords expense to which the cost will be taken out of next months rent and give the landlord a copy of the receipt from the hotel (original should stay in your file). Keep a copy of the letter for your own files. Then get out of that apartment. There is no need to put yourself and your boys in any more danger. If the landlord tries to fight you, move, and get a lawyer and recoup all of your costs. (i.e moving, security deposit, hotel accommodations etc...) Just make sure you have EVERYTHING documented, and photographed.

I would contact a lawyer.... and move.

That is a gross neglect of basic maintenance on the landlord's part.

I had the paint over my toilet start bubbling in my apartment. it got big... like a 20" circle of bubbled paint. Well... my husband at the time popped it and water from the toilet from the apartment above us, came pouring into our bathroom. When they failed to fix it after a month, we moved out and took lots of pictures before leaving, documented our requests for repair, in case they tried to come after us for the remainder of the lease.

Raw sewage is a bit more disgusting, but Mold is right up there with it... both are health hazards and you and your family are feeling effects from it's presence, even if it's gradual.

Get out, get a lawyer and get your boys to a safer place.

good luck!

A good place to start: http://www.renters-rights.com

If you live in the City of Chicago, you should call the Metropolitan Tenants' Organization at ###-###-####. They provide free guidance to renters in the city including: templates of letters that you can send to your landlord, if you have the right to terminate your lease and the legal methods in which to do this. They can also refer you to an attorney if need be. The service is free. They are only available from 1:00 - 5:00 M-F and it is hard to get through right at 1:00, but keep trying. Their service is tremendously helpful.