A TikToker is putting her New York City landlord on blast after posting a video claiming they covered “water damage & toxic mold with paint.” The video, posted by user Sabrina (@sabssul), shows a person painting over apparent water damage with white paint.
“My landlord thinks paint is the solution to everything,” she wrote in the video’s description. In the video itself, she elaborates on the situation, saying, “We can’t afford a lawyer and we filed many 311 complaints.” In New York and many other major cities, 311 is a telephone number one can call to report issues with their living space, among other services.
Commenters suggested Sabrina find a lawyer who will work on contingency to pursue the case further.
“A smart lawyer will take this case and won’t ask for money until you win the case,” one user in the comments claimed.
Others suggested she put her rent in escrow. This is a process by which someone can withhold rent until a problem is fixed with the apartment.
However, a closer examination of the video reveals that the landlord may be attempting to do something about the problem after all.
At one point, Sabrina pans over to the can of paint being used to cover the wall.
This paint appears to be ZINSSER® Mold Killing Primer, a product that claims to be able to “paint over and kill all existing mold, mildew, moss, fungi, odor causing bacteria and any other fungal organisms.”
If this is correct, Sabrina’s landlord may actually be taking a step to remedy this issue. In some cases, this is enough to resolve issues one may have with mold, as some in the comments attested.
“I’m severely allergic to mold and this is actually a method that works assuming this is one of the thousands of mold species we have information on,” one TikToker wrote.
“If it’s surface mold you can seal and paint it,” another added. “If it’s through the board on the back side [you] have to tear it out.”
But given the apparent size and severity of the damage, a few people remained critical, theorizing that this alone may not be enough to fully resolve the problems. It also seems to be the landlord’s second time trying to paint the wall, according to the text overlay.
“This mold isn’t going [to] magically go away by believing a product’s claims,” a user wrote. “It’s very possible that the mold has grown deep into the wall, requiring professional removal. That should already be [obvious] considering the mold issue keeps visibly returning despite the coats of fresh ‘mold killer’ paint.”
Regardless of the severity, TikTokers agreed that Sabrina should have the problem professionally assessed.
“You should try looking into [the] local housing authority and health department,” one commenter suggested. “I was able to get help through them when my landlord wouldn’t do.”
Sabrina did not immediately respond to Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
Update 11:32am CT, April 20: To commenters saying the landlord’s solution was adequate, Sabrina tells Daily Dot that even the landlord thought it wouldn’t actually solve the problem.
In a statement to Daily Dot, Sabrina claims she has “live footage of a conversation [with the] landlord saying they know this is not the right way to do it, but they know we have a city inspection coming up so they want to cover it up for the inspector.” Sabrina did not share this video with Daily Dot.
Sabrina then revealed that mold was an ongoing issue in the apartment, present since at least December of last year.
“I have filed a report to the Attorney General regional office. The inspector is also coming tomorrow to assess the violations,” she tells Daily Dot. “As you might know lawyer fees tend to be financially and emotionally exhausting, so I am in the process of securing help from the Legal Aid Society to see how I can proceed.”
“I also want to clarify that the mold paint does not FIX the mold issue,” she continues. “It is only for surface mold, while the mold in my apartment is black mold that has continued to reappear due to landlord negligence.”
To close, Sabrina simply asks, “I mentioned in the video that they have painted before. If it really worked, my question is why is there black mold reappearing again?”
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