‘Get a lawyer and continue documenting everything’: TikToker says landlord refuses to believe her apartment has mold
One TikToker is using the platform to document conflict with her landlord over potentially harmful mold in her apartment.
TikToker Elena Sretenovic (@talllgurl) posted a viral TikTok on Dec. 3 explaining that she and her roommates did a mold test on a vent in their apartment after seeing similar TikToks on her For You Page. Sretenovic’s video has since reached over 780,000 views.
The test seemed to indicate mold, but their landlord did not believe them. (Such DIY tests may not be completely accurate.) Meanwhile, Sretenovic and her roommates were experiencing headaches and fevers.
“You show your landlord, but she gaslights you, saying the vent is just dirty,” Sretenovic says in her TikTok.
Sretenovic and her roommates also asked their landlord for a mold inspection. Their landlord allegedly ignored this request, instead replacing the vent after spraying Lysol over the suspected mold. The landlord also appeared to place a piece of cardboard behind the new vent for unclear reasons.
“If it’s just dirty and dust like she claims, then why would she need to put that piece of cardboard?” Sretenovic says in a follow-up video. “Also, we know that a piece of cardboard is not going to stop microscopic mold spores.”
Their landlord eventually sent a mold inspector, but told Sretenovic and her roommates that they would have to pay for the $250 inspection if results came back negative for mold.
In another follow-up video, Sretenovic explains that the inspection didn’t go in their favor. The inspector insisted that the apartment was safe, though Sretenovic suspects their landlord asked him to say so.
“From the get-go, he just had this attitude about him that was like, ‘I feel like I’m not gonna find anything,’” Sretenovic says.
Sretenovic says she’s waiting for lab results from a mold exposure test her doctor ordered. Sretenovic is also in contact with a group that provides free legal services to tenants, she said in a comment.
The comments are overwhelmingly in support of Sretenovic and her roommates. Some recommended that they take legal action.
“Girl you have enough evidence to sue the landlord for compensation for her negligence,” one commenter wrote. “Get a lawyer and continue documenting everything.”
Others shared similar stories.
“You HAVE to move,” one commenter wrote. “I had this problem 3 years ago. It ruined my life, my lungs, I still need breathing assistance. Please get out of there.”
Sretenovic lives in Nevada, where state law requires landlords to keep properties habitable. There are no federal or Nevada laws regarding mold in rental units.
In recent months, more renters have taken to TikTok to document their landlords’ negligence. Last month saw another viral TikTok of one landlord’s makeshift solution to a collapsing ceiling.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sretenovic via Instagram DM for comment.
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