Suing landlord for mold in
landlord tenant attorney Georgia Aug 10, 2026
Location: Georgia, USA My sister rented a basement apartment. Four months into her year long lease she complained to me that mold was growing on her belongings and she was trying to find a new place. She has bad credit and was scared once she tells her landlord about the mold they would tell her to leave and she had no where to go. So she stayed while looking a place and didn’t notify them. Her lease didn’t mention needing a dehumidifier, which is often needed in basements. She said she had health issues and bought one of those Petri dish mold kits which of course would grow mold. Once she secured a place to live she wrote the landlord an email stating that she has mold and health issues and she is terminating her lease. She moved out days later and the landlord sent her a follow up stating they are keeping her security deposit because she broke the lease, billed her $1000 in cleaning fees (this was in the lease) and other damage fees and stated that there is no evidence of mold in the apartment. Now she is looking to sue them because she had health issues. I told her she can’t sue them for mold issues when she only notified them upon terminating the lease giving them no chance to fix the matter. Her argument is that they did nothing after she told them, but her email was also terminating her lease so I am not sure if they had any legal rights to doing anything at that point. She said she found a lawyer willing to talk to her about the case but I find her case weak. I am just curious what her odds are for being successful.
