Rental Properties | Mold
Tenant Self Help Strategies Courts have recognized two common legal self-help strategies that some tenants choose to pursue following a mold outbreak in their apartment or rental home. The first, known as "rent withholding," is when tenants decide to stop paying rent, claiming the mold has made their apartment uninhabitable. (Note that regardless of what may appear in a written lease with tenants, landlords in Georgia are bound by the “implied warranty of habitability,” a legal doc-trine that requires providing tenants with apartments in livable condition.) The second strate-gy, known as "repair and deduct," involves tenants taking care of mold cleanup on their own and then subtracting the cost from their rent. Landlord Liabilities There is currently no federal law covering a landlord's responsibilities when it comes to mold. Also, Georgia doesn’t have any laws that specifically address a landlord’s duties or liability when it comes to mold prevention and remediation. However, tenants who believe they have been harmed by the presence of high concentrations of mold in their apartment can try to recover damages from their landlord in court to compen-sate them for their loss. If a judge or jury agrees that the landlord negligently created a mold problem or allowed one to continue at a property, the landlord could be on the hook for any harm. For example, tenants at a Sandy Springs, Georgia, apartment building complained to their landlord about unsafe levels of mold they spotted in their apartment. After allegedly inade-quate efforts to address their concerns, the tenants arranged for mold testing and also con-tacted a local television station to report their frustrations. Following the station's investiga-tion, the landlord issued a statement committing to fully resolving the mold issue. Mold Disclosure Requirements | GA Georgia doesn't have any statutes or regulations that require landlords to disclose high con- centrations of mold in rental properties to prospective tenants or buyers. However, Georgia landlords must let prospective tenants know if flooding has caused damage (including mold) to the living space at least three times in the five years preceding the lease start date (Ga. Code Ann. § 44-7-20). Also, while federal law requires disclosures about lead paint, it doesn't impose a similar duty on landlords when it comes to mold. Aside from any affirmative disclosure requirement, how-ever, if you decide to list a property for sale, you should be ready with responses to questions potential buyers might ask about plumbing, humidity, and ventilation issues in your building.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/georgia-rules-regarding-mold-rental-properties.html
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