Heeeelp!! Tenant issues and mold

[Samantha Jee]

I'm not a professional landlord but we have a condo in LA that we rented out b/c we moved states due to a job. We've rented for 3 years with zero issues. 7 months ago we rented to a girl named Sandi and another girl named Lily. They were fine but i whenever i had to have someone go in there to fix something they resented it b/c they said they were busy professionals and didn't want to deal with any upkeep. so i decided to hire a property management company. i told them due to increases in tax and HOA, i needed to raise the rent $100 each. Sandi freaks out and writes long rambling emails about how there's dirt and mold that we've hidden from them from the start that she's just now discovering. I have no idea what she means as she's never mentioned this. We hire a property manager that weekend and within 3 days she's out there and decides a mold inspector needs to come. He comes within 2 days and with extensive tests find there are leaks from the shared pipes throughout the HOA and our place has detectable mold.

So he said its best if the girls move out since the mold seems throughout the unit. We have been paying for them to stay in hotels the last couple of weeks. We are trying to get the mold remediation company to go in there and fix this but the girls are freaking out that we are violating their privacy. Our PM insists the mold remediation company can go in with 24 hour notice so they will start the work Fri.

I have two issues. First, I am paying thousands for this remediation as well as for cleaning their personal possessions and the hotel. Is the HOA resposible for any of this? They said no. My PM thinks yes.

Second issue is that these girls are very hostile, not actively looking to move out it appears, and have mentioned suing us. Do they have a case? They literally never mentioned mold until 2 weeks ago, on a Saturday. By the following Tues (Monday was Pres Day) we had inspectors out there and are trying our best to fix this. I'm really stressed they will sue us for thousands and thousands. Any adivce? Anyone BTDT?

[Colleen F.]

Every place has detectable mold. If it is harmful you need to remediate.  Schedule the mold company and enter as allowed for such urgent conditions regardless with 24 hours notice if that is the timeframe allowed in your area.   Really you keep paying for them to stay in a hotel while they don't let you enter the apartment they aren't living in?  I would consider they are paranoid about entry because maybe there is something they were doing that is contributing. Mold needs moisture to grow.

Look in the lease for inhabitable conditions clause to see if you can terminate the lease based on that. I would have a landlord/tenant lawyer look at the lease to see if there is anything you can use in the lease to do this and also to advise on the hotel aspect. You can't continue to cover hotels. Did they pay March rent? I believe they need to put rent in escrow if they withhold it. Basically even if you remediate if it is from the shared ventilation it won't be fixed I would think. I would not worry so much about them suing as I would about acting legally now and stopping the financial bleeding ASAP. A couple of things to explore include insurance yours, the HOA, and thier renters insurance (do they have coverage, has it paid for any of their expenses?). May be limited coverage but could be some. You don't want to be accused of retaliation for the complaint but basically this tenant relationship after threatening to sue is not going anywhere good so now or later you are going to want to get the tenants out of the place. Sounds like you were very prompt to respond and very supportive so you will look good as far as that is considered. Try to end this ASAP. And getting an HOA to pay for anything may take legal action on your part.