NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Water damage, holes in the floor, and possible mold. Tenants are concerned about the current condition of their apartment after a hot water heater burst on June 26. The water was shut off, but it left serious damage at their Castlegate Drive home.
"There’s little holes all over the floor," Julie Rappel-Auman said.
The landlord sent out a crew to fix some of the problem spots.
"The man who came out and worked on these two patches said that he did repairs in Hurricane Katrina, and this is comparable to the mold situation out there, and that his lungs were hurting from working on the floors," Robin Hanafusa said.
The couple actually found mold growing on their furniture, and they’ve gone to the doctor multiple times with respiratory sicknesses in the last couple months. In addition, Hanafusa said she fell through a hole while washing the dishes.
"I caught myself on the sink luckily. My shoes went through the floor, and we had to rig a broom with some tape to stick down there and get my shoe back out, and my ankle was sprained, but I was trying to do normal things like wash the dishes and cook food," Hanafusa said.
Their landlord offered them a new apartment that cost hundreds more a month. They can't afford it, and they don't have renters insurance to reimburse them for their losses. At this point, they've tried everything. A Metro Codes representative came out to look at their apartment too.
"We actually called codes out, he said that everything from here to here absolutely needed to be changed," Rappel-Auman said.
When faced with homelessness, they chose to stay at the apartment. Now they're hoping someone can help them find a safer place to live soon. The couple has a Go Fund Me page to help them during this time.
We reached out to Cottage Realty group, and the landlord, and have not heard back.
