APOLLO BEACH, Fla. — "What once was a picture perfect dream apartment has turned into a nightmare."
That's what Gabriella Michaud wrote in an email to ABC Action News.
She said she was excited when she moved into Ridley at Waterset Apartments in Apollo Beach. But that excitement wore off.
"My apartment is infested with mold. I have been dealing with this situation for about a year. And my lease is technically not up until December 28. But I do have to leave early, which for lack of better terms, it sucks," she said.
ABC Action News reporter Jada Williams visited Michaud's apartment on her last day living there.
"It's expensive. And with inflation, everything is expensive right now, too. It's just having to take off of work and pack everything up and move again when I wasn't planning on it. I was initially planning to re-lease. But since they couldn't fix the problem, I can't re-lease," she explained.
Michaud said her problem began just weeks after moving into the luxury apartment.
"We moved on September 29. And the problem, it arrived on October 9 of 2022. And I did bring it to management's attention. They told me it was condensation and the AC was leaking. It's been leaking sense. And it took them until October 19 of this year to fix the leak," she said.
Michaud suspected mold, so she bought a do-it-yourself mold kit.
"My apartment complex doesn't accept them as legitimate," Michaud said.
We reached out to Willow Bridge, the property management company over the apartment complex. They're waiting for confirmation that what Michaud saw inside her apartment was actually unsafe mold. They referred us to multiple links warning against the legitimacy of those events.
One of those links points to the Florida Department of Health's guidance. It said,
The Florida Department of Health does not recommend mold testing or sampling to see if you have a mold problem, or to see what kind of mold might be growing. Sampling for mold in the air can be expensive and, if done, should only be done by experienced professionals.
FDoH and EPA both advise hiring a professional. That's in order to make sure there's no contamination or defects.
Despite the questions surrounding the validity of Michaud's at-home test, she decided to move out of the apartment.
"It's frustrating. It's gotten to the point where I've woken up crying in the office. I'm upset, to say the least. It's a lot, and sorry. It's very frustrating," she said.
But before leaving, Michaud made a call to Hillsborough County Code Enforcement. She said they came and inspected her apartment, including the locked AC closet, which is only accessible by maintenance.
We reached out to Code Enforcement as well to get the results of the inspection.
In a statement, they told us,
"The apartment owner was cited last week for two violations: A hole in the ceiling that had been inadequately repaired, and an organic growth on the baseboards. The owner has the standard 10 days to correct the violations."
We also received those official citations. It directs the apartment complex to patch up a hole in the roof. Michaud tells us the hole was created when maintenance came in to fix the persisting leak. They later patched it with what Michaud said was cardboard and tape. When our cameras visited the apartment, it had been patched.
As for the organic growth, the citation read: "The interiors of all buildings and facilities shall be kept free of any visible or otherwise demonstrative growth of mold or mildew."
The county's report specifically states "organic material." When I asked the county if we could classify it as mold, they told us code enforcement doesn't test the substances because it's against code to have anything growing, whether it's mold, mildew, or simply organic growth.
Willow Bridge sent a statement reading:
We take residents' concerns seriously and pride ourselves in trying to remedy any issue as quickly as we can. When we learned of these concerns, we contracted with a Florida-licensed, third-party mold expert to inspect the unit. The resident is in the process of moving out, so we will address any recommended maintenance as soon as the unit is vacant.
Michaud said she's not taking any chances, and that's why she's letting go of her dream apartment. She said she's throwing out her couch, rug, and much of her artwork—her primary source of income.
"It didn't live up to the expectation," she said.
