Why is the tenant of the South Square apartments in Holt living in a tent?
- Caleb Medina was cleaning his apartment when he discovered what he believed were mold spores on his wall
- South Square management investigated his property and gave him options
- Watch to find out why South Square renter Caleb Medina chose to live in a tent
(The following is a transcript of the full broadcast story)
Here I am at South Square Apartments in Holt, where a tenant claims his unit is unlivable due to what he believes is mold.
Caleb: When I found this I knew I was in trouble
Caleb Medina’s discovery in Apartment 2 led to a difficult decision…
Caleb: The reason I pitched the tent is because I’m clearly homeless and I’m not willing to go into an unsafe environment that I’m paying for.
Medina first reported possible mold in his apartment in June, and says maintenance sprayed his unit with Killz-it, a common primer for mold and mildew.
Caleb: He left that bug there, and he was just hanging out. He killed her and then left me a little friend there.
But the suspected problems in his unit continued to grow.
Caleb: I noticed germs on the back of my dresser against the wall. So, I started investigating and started deconstructing my closets and opened the bottom closet and opened up my closet that I had only had for a couple of months in my room…Hannah, the bottom part of it is absolutely filled with mold.
Medina contacted South Square management, which responded by sending him a lawyer’s letter. I spoke with South Square attorney Sam Dua about the letter and the allegations.
Sam: I think the first option would be to get an immediate refund of his security deposit as well as return his rent for September immediately as long as he gives notice to the apartment complex that he has vacated or that he no longer wants any of the items in the apartment because he stated that all of his items were destroyed Or what you claimed.
Then the second option was to allow maintenance to be done to provide sealant to the walls over a period of 3 days, 3 different coats to prevent anything claimed from penetrating the walls.
Medina believes that these options are useless, because the man sleeping in the tent will remain homeless.
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