Residents of apartments near FGCU concerned about mold

ESTERO, Fla. An apartment complex that caters to Florida Gulf Coast University students isn’t responding to concerns about mold in some of its units, residents say.

Gabriella Pullano, who lives at The Reef Student Living near Estero and Three Oaks parkways, found shoes covered with what appeared to be mold in her closet on Saturday, a few weeks after she was hospitalized with breathing problems, she said.

The same fuzzy white rings were on the bottoms of her dresser and bed and on the artwork hanging on her walls, she said.

“Something needs to be done because people are getting sick and going to the hospital because of this,” Pullano said. “It’s really disgusting and I want to see someone come out here and fix this problem.”

It’s unclear what caused Pullano’s breathing trouble, but she doesn’t have asthma or any other pre-existing conditions, she said. Pullano first noticed something that looked like mold at her apartment in late November, but Saturday’s shoe discovery prompted her to report the issue to Reef management for the first time.

“[The Reef] brought someone out on Sunday to wipe our apartment down and they said they were going to bring a guy out to check the AC to see if maybe there was a humidity problem,” Pullano said. “But we haven’t heard from anyone.”

Management told Pullano she was the only one they knew of who was having a potential mold issue, she said. But another resident of The Reef claims she told management about mold at her unit in December and is still waiting for cleanup.

That tenant would appear to have the right to terminate her lease without being on the hook for any additional rent. Florida state laws hold that landlords have to provide a fix within seven days for an issue that isn’t the tenant’s fault, according to Adam Stevens, an attorney with Fort Myers-based Powell, Jackson, Stevens & Ricciardi P.A.

The key for anyone in a similar situation is to report potential mold to management immediately, Stevens said.

Doing so gives tenants legal leverage, and it may also spare them a health hazard.