Possible mold in rental unit

[John Chang]

Hi all, I am new to this forum so forgive me if this has been asked before. I have a rental property in Costa Mesa, CA and a tenant claimed that after she cleaned, her carpeted floors in her room were wet and she was worried about mold being under the carpet and in the walls. I checked and her bathtub needed caulking so I fixed that but she said that would would now like new floors because she is worried about mold. I bought her a damprid to get rid of excess moisture and told her she should have opened her windows to ventilate and that she should have told me right when she noticed, but she waited several days until she finally paid her rent, after it was past due. I felt the floors and they felt dry to me, so I told her I would think about it. This tenant never pays on time and any time I tell her she needs to pay on time, she has a complaint about something in the unit being broken, or needing something to be done in her unit, etc., so I'm wondering if I can tell her to pay for a mold check by a professional is she is concerned about it.  Everytime she has mentioned something needing to be fixed, I have done it, but I don't know if she just wants new floorings, so now is complaining about something else or what. My question is, whose responsible if there is mold. Thanks!

[Joe Homs]

@John Chang  sounds like its time for her to go.  YOU are responsible for everything that goes on in your unit.  She is setting you up for a future lawsuit and you need to protect yourself.  You need to keep documentation of everything she has done to possibly cause this and what you have done to mitigate her concerns.  Mold develops when there is standing water in a particular location.  If she cleaned the carpets, then she needed to make sure they were dry afterwards.  Very rare that the carpet cleaning would cause mold.  You find mold under sinks, water heaters, anywhere water may be leaking, etc.  It's time for a new tenant.  If she has been in the property for more than one year you are required to provide her with a 60 day notice.  If less than one year then 30 day notice.

As always, I am NOT an attorney and if you need professional advice then I suggest you contact one to protect yourself.  MOLD is a four letter word and you should NOT mess around with it.

Good Investing...