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Family says landlord not fixing mold problem

Posted at 5:07 PM, May 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-31 19:20:11-04

When Kathryn and James Williams decided to move, they fell in love with a rental house in Blue Springs. 

"We got the yard fixed up. It was the perfect house for us space-wise, guest room-wise, everything. It was everything we were looking for,” Kathryn Williams told 41 Action News. 

Less than a week later, everything went south. After it rained, the drain in front of the garage backed up and flooded their basement. Two weeks later, it happened again. 

“All the rain comes down the driveway. It’s got a two-inch drain and it’s not big enough to hold [the water],” said James Williams. "They told us it was our responsibility to keep the drain clean, to keep the yard clean, to keep the gutters clean, I’ve done everything they have told me to do. And they have done nothing.” 

The Williams family contacted their property manager, Blue Bronco Real Estate. The company said it was the Williams’ responsibility to clean the drains, which they did. 

But as James Williams was cleaning up from the flood, he discovered mold. 

“The mold is right here when you come in the door. It’s the first thing,” he said while showing 41 Action News the problem. 

James Williams said his calls to Blue Bronco Real Estate about the mold went ignored. Since discovering the problem, he and his family have moved out of the home into a motel. They also hired an environmental specialist, Nick Fortner of Nick’s Inspection Services, to take air samples. 

“It’s going to have to be cut out. The sheetrock is going to have to be cut out. The carpet is going to have to go, and we don’t know what type of hidden damage is in there until we get into the walls,” Fortner told 41 Action News. 

41 Action News attempted to contact Blue Bronco Real Estate multiple times. The company did not answer several phone numbers and did not return any calls. 

Blue Bronco Real Estate has an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau. Over the last three years, the BBB has received six complaints against the company. 

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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.

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