A number of progressive housing bills are working their way through the legislature. One that’s gotten bipartisan support is an effort that could end sub-par mold remediation from landlords.
A Chesterfield resident who failed to identify herself walked up to the podium of a House committee on general laws to talk about her long battle with her landlord over mold in her senior living apartment. She said when she first noticed the mold it led to a fight with her rental office and the cops were called. It was then she discovered how few rights tenants have when it comes to mold in a rental unit. By that point it was too late.
“This is what I end up with because i lived with mold for 3 years,” she said as she held up a bag of medications. “Yesterday I got the two injections I’ve had to get every week for the last 2 years. It is undignified, un American and property owners need to be held to the fire.”
A solution to her problem may exist in a bill from Richmond-area Democratic Delegate Delores McQuinn.
At the same hearing McQuinn described her bill which would require certifications for mold remediators and give tenants the right to file suit if the proper remediators aren’t hired to do the job.
“The tenants seem to bear the burden alone, of holding landlords accountable for the presence of mold and its insufficient remediation,” she said.
The bipartisanship that got it to the House floor earlier in the week continued Friday when it passed the house as part of the uncontested docket. Its next stop is the Senate and, perhaps, Governor Glenn Youngkin’s desk.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
