ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Augustine woman worried about mold issues in her rental unit says she now has health issues she thinks are consistent with toxic mold syndrome.
Action News Jax first told you about Martin Waverley and his wife last week when they had to vacate their unit at the Antica Apartment complex due to mold concerns.
Martin Waverley’s wife, Doreen Waverley, says she’s experienced heart palpitations, a burning throat and difficulty breathing and believes it may be because of the mold in their soon-to-be former unit at the complex.
“I started calling my doctors and setting up appointments and saying, ‘Hey, something’s wrong. I don’t know what’s going on,’” Doreen Waverley said.
She says testing results revealed high eosinophil levels — something she says can be attributed to mold exposure.
“My body’s fighting something, and it could possibly be fungal,” Doreen Waverley said. “They really don’t know.”
Martin Waverley says they had to vacate their unit immediately after it was inspected by staff last week.
“They said that the AC motor was turned to full speed,” Martin Waverley said. “It was sucking in too much air, as well as the humidity in the apartment, and that created the mold in the air ducts.”
The Waverley’s showed us a service ticket they say documents what the complex did to try and remedy the situation following their 7-day notice to terminate their lease.
But when they went back to the unit.. this was their reaction: “Immediately, pungent bleach over bleach over top of mold, and it still smells,” Martin Waverley said.
“I was in there long enough to start to feel like my throat was on fire,” Doreen Waverley said.
Still, the Waverleys say management sent them an email informing them that although they accept their notice, they will not be waiving any fees associated with breaking their lease, noting that they addressed the issue in a timely manner.
The Waverleys say at this point, they’re just ready for this mess to be over.
“We got our health, and if I have to throw away everything we own in that department, I don’t care,” Martin Waverley said. “We have the kids, and we have ourselves.”
The management company of the complex sent us the following statement:
We take our residents’ concerns seriously and are committed to working with them fairly and constructively. When they raised questions about the air quality in their homes, we took steps to get answers.
A third-party inspection on October 19 found airborne mold levels were within acceptable limits in the areas tested and did not recommend further remediation. We will share the information from the reports with the residents and keep working with them as we determine whether any follow-up is appropriate.
The health and safety of every Antica Apartments resident will remain our top priority, so every resident can feel confident and comfortable in their home.
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