JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sandra Ross returned from a month-long vacation to find a scary sight in her apartment. Her walls, her clothes, and even her appliances showed evidence of mold.

Ross said she panicked when she realized it was throughout her apartment.

“That’s nothing to come home to,” Ross said. “You know, mold on the walls and breathing this, and my health is compromised already, so I can’t live here until it’s straightened out.”

Ross said she set the air conditioning to 70 degrees before she left for her vacation, so it was a surprise that she came home to so much of her belongings covered in mold.

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Riverton Tower Senior Center management and Ross cleaned the spots where the mold was visible but as a cancer patient, she’s still concerned that it’s in the air or behind the walls.

“I called my oncologist, and I asked if it was OK for me to stay here. And [the oncologist] said, ‘Well, no, if it’s black mold, for sure, but you should not have to live in mold, and I wouldn’t recommend you to stay there,’” Ross said.

The Centers for Disease Control said mold can cause many health effects. For some people, it can cause a stuffy nose, a sore throat, coughing, or wheezing. They also note that immune-compromised people may get infections in their lungs from mold.

Ross said management told her they couldn’t help because she didn’t have renters insurance, but Ability Housing, which owns Riverton Towers, said, “The resident’s renters insurance coverage was not a consideration in the decision about how to best address the maintenance issues in her unit.”

A spokesperson for the company said management recommended that Ross consider renters insurance in the future to provide “an additional layer of financial peace of mind.”

We also asked Ability Housing questions about the apartment’s response to keep Ross and other residents safe. The company provided the following statement to News4JAX:

The health and safety of our residents is of utmost importance. Since acquiring the property in 2023, Ability Housing has invested more than $250,000 into addressing deferred maintenance issues that accrued under previous owners, in order to provide the highest possible quality home for our residents.

Upon receiving information from the tenant about suspected mold in her apartment, the property management team conducted a thorough inspection and cleaning. At that time, it was discovered that the tenant had set the internal temperature of the unit higher than is recommended for optimal air flow. Two subsequent follow-up inspections of the unit yielded no visible signs of mold.

We are working with the resident to address her concerns. Property management will follow up with the tenant again tomorrow to conduct another inspection.

Ability Housing spokesperson

The company also said it inspected the apartment and saw “what appeared to be surface-level mildew.”

“The unit was then cleaned with Zep, which is an industrial-strength product that is safe and effective for use in a residential setting, when used as directed.”

Management conducted two additional follow-ups at the apartment and did not find any “visible evidence of mold,” according to Ability Housing.

So, it was found that there was not a need for additional treatments.

Ability Housing also said no known factors such as an air conditioning unit failing or a power outage contributed to the mold issue in Ross’ apartment. The company said residents can notify management of extended trips so that they can conduct courtesy checks, which is a service available to all tenants.

According to the company, Ross did not request this service before her trip.

As for how the company was keeping other tenants safe, the company responded, “The health and safety of our residents is of utmost importance. A proactive property maintenance strategy is in place. This includes quarterly inspections and ongoing maintenance check-ins with residents for routine services such as A/C filter changes, pest control, and other regular maintenance needs. Additionally, we utilize a text/phone-based communication platform to communicate with residents on an ongoing basis.”

News4JAX also called the Department of Health to see if they could provide answers about what Ross or other residents can do if they think their residence has mold. We did not immediately hear back.

Ross said she’s staying with a friend for the time being until she’s confident the issues are resolved.

“I’m hoping that they would take care of my clothes, somehow, have them clean, really and truly the whole apartment. It could be laying on my chairs. It could be, because they’re cloth, you know, and to make it livable again, so I can stay here,” Ross said. “If not, I have to move out. So I’d rather not. But, you know, my life is a little bit more important than staying here.”