Good maintenance of office and apartment complexes starts with proper care of the individual units and good property owners know that when it comes to maintenance and repairs, catching the problem early and fixing it quickly are solid money-saving strategies. Fix the issues you find immediately. Ignoring a maintenance or repair issue can lead to much costlier repairs down the road and could even potentially put your or your residents at risk.
One typical issue that can often be unforeseen for both property owners and residents off guard is the appearance of mold in the residence. Left untreated, mold can cause a lot of damage to buildings. Because it starts gradually and spreads slowly, often inside walls or hidden within other structures, certain molds can seemingly go from invisible to a serious health hazard in the snap of your fingers. Having mold in rental properties creates potential health problems.
There are many different kinds of molds, but the toxic variety is called Black Mold, or Stachybotrys atra. Often a slimy greenish-black or gray in appearance, toxic mold thrives in damp places in the home including leaky roofs, windows, or pipes, or even under floors and in ceilings if you’ve had a flood or leak. Black Mold gives off an unpleasant musty odor, and when present can severely limit your ability to guarantee the safety of your rental properties. It is important to note, Stachybotrys molds are not always black, meaning molds of different colors could also be dangerous. In other words, there’s no way to tell just by looking whether you’re dealing with toxic or harmless mold.
While mold, in general, is very common in damp indoor environments, Stachybotrys is less common than other mold species, including Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Alternaria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) doesn’t have statistics about how often Stachybotrys molds are found in buildings, but it’s less common than ostentatious media reports would prefer to admit.
Health Hazards
The presence of toxic mold is a serious health concern. The CDC reports links between the presence of mold in the home and serious health effects, including respiratory problems (coughing or wheezing, throat irritation, nasal stuffiness), eye irritation, or skin irritation. People with allergies, asthma or lung disease may be even more severely affected, leading to serious infections in the lungs or other life-threatening conditions.
Property Damage
Due to the danger raised by toxic mold, it’s important to mitigate the outbreak as efficiently as possible. As a landlord, exposing renters to mold can expose landlords and property managers to liability issues, potential lawsuits, and undue expense.
Because mold exists everywhere, it would not be unusual to find it within your rental properties. And since mold multiplies into spores that are invisible to the naked eye, toxic mold can cause severe damage to rental properties if left unchecked. Should you choose not to remedy a mold issue discovered in your rental property, you run the risk of being sued by your renter. Indoor mold growth may not be obvious. It can grow unnoticed on hidden surfaces—on the backside of drywall, underside of carpets or pads, or hidden within utility tunnels. With so much at stake in your rental properties, it’s essential to perform regular maintenance that includes good mold prevention strategies.
Call the Experts
It would be interesting to note that some property management companies don’t consider mold a serious matter. They may try to avoid costs by ignoring water damage or telling residents to deal with it themselves. But mold should never be handled lightly and placing the health of your residents at risk is never a good idea. The serious nature of the damages caused by ignoring mold makes it a job for a company that will work to protect you and your residents from unwanted consequences.
In Conclusion
Consider contacting Real Property Management East Cobb. We understand the hazards that uncontrolled growths of mold present to rental property owners in East Cobb. We’re happy to discuss this and provide information on how to address these issues effectively. Should you need experts who deal with mold remediation as part of their business, please contact us online or call us at 770-622-5657 for or a free, no-obligation quote.
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