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From: ENVHEALTH <ENVHEALTH@co.humboldt.ca.us>
To: 'Richard Childers' <fscked@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: RE: 137 12th St, Fortuna: Apartment Mold Causing Daughter To Cough
 Until She Has Nosebleeds
Thread-Topic: 137 12th St, Fortuna: Apartment Mold Causing Daughter To Cough
 Until She Has Nosebleeds
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Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 18:18:31 +0000
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Mr. Childers,

We have received your e-mail. The subject is under review.

Sincerely,

Andrea Arnold
Office Services Supervisor
DHHS Public Health
Division of Environmental Health
100 H Street, Suite 100
Eureka, CA 95501
(707)268-2219



-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Childers [mailto:fscked@sbcglobal.net]=20
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2015 10:53 AM
To: ENVHEALTH
Cc: Gary Goade
Subject: 137 12th St, Fortuna: Apartment Mold Causing Daughter To Cough Unt=
il She Has Nosebleeds

To whom it may concern,

On the advice of those with whom I spoke within the County of Humboldt's De=
partment of Health and Human Services, I am contacting you to report a thre=
at to public health - the substandard housing, generating over
$20,000 per month, that is being rented to the public, at 137 12th Street, =
in Fortuna, CA, 95540.

Would it be possible to reply to this email, and let me know that it was re=
ceived?

Here are the details:


We've been living in Fortuna for nearly a decade.

My oldest daughter started first grade here, and is now attending Academy o=
f the Redwoods. One of my daughters represented Humboldt County at the Cali=
fornia State Spelling Bee, a few years ago.

As a result of an Ellis Act eviction in early 2014, we ended up at 137 12th=
 Street, in Fortuna - a dingy apartment complex that we had lived at, five =
years before.

Since we had lived at the apartment complex previously, it had changed hand=
s, and changed management, for the worse. I had no idea what I and my famil=
y were in for.

Shortly after moving in, we discovered a bedbug infestation.

It has been nine months, and the bedbug infestation STILL hasn't been resol=
ved.

We got rid of all our furniture and have been living like refugees, out of =
boxes, sleeping on cots, in sleeping bags, since maybe May of 2014.=20
(See photos.)

During the fall of 2014 I saw mold blooming on all of the exterior-facing i=
nterior walls. The maintenance guy washed it off with 10% bleach. The mold =
came back. I washed it off with 25% bleach. The mold came back. (See photos=
)

Three weeks ago the Fortuna building inspector (Gary Goade) came out. He an=
d the other inspector thought it was mold ... but wanted a specialist to co=
me and take samples. They told PPM (the property management firm) not to wa=
sh the walls until the samples were taken.

(I'm not sure but I think the specialist is someone who works for your depa=
rtment - DHHS. This would be the same person who was involved in doing the =
testing that led to the National 9 Inn, in Fortuna, getting red-tagged, bac=
k in 2014.)

So, basically, we are in a holding pattern, waiting for the mold specialist=
 to show up and take their samples so we can wash the walls.

We've been waiting for three weeks.

My daughter has started coughing, though - the coughing was so bad she got =
a nosebleed, a day ago ... and the only remediation is to not cough.

My question is: What is the point of having laws against renting spaces to =
live in, that are infested with mold ... if one needs to employ a lawyer, t=
o get the government to enforce its own laws?

Why isn't Humboldt County making rental property owners replace moldy plast=
erboard?

A 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of wallboard is $10. One could do a whole room for=
 less than $100 in materials - a whole apartment could be completely redone=
 for less than one month's rent, including all the paint and all the labor.

The way things are going, this girl is going to end up in the emergency roo=
m. And the rest of us, too.

This doesn't seem very cost-effective.

This doesn't seem like honest real estate property management, as I underst=
and the meaning of 'honest', and 'property management'.

It seems criminally stupid real estate management, to be frank.

How can 137 12th Street qualify as Section 8 housing, with conditions like =
this?


Regards,

~richard

Richard Childers
707-725-7995  (phone)


PS: Pictures of 137 12th Street, Apt 4A, Fortuna, attached. Note water=20
stains on pillars under building, proving that the high water mark=20
reached the wood portion of the building, repeatedly, and recently.


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