From: SickFormerTenant
4-22-2010
Years at this apartment: 2009 – 2010
Google Riverstone Residential Group Complaints, CAS Partners, and Blastomycosis NC. Riverstone Residential manages Lexington Farms Apartments, as well as over 200,000 other properties. Riverstone Residential is a third party managment group for CAS Partners: A huge corporation. Before you move-in google complaints. Those searches will inform you.
And just watch out. The bad economy has turned an already competitive market into something more aggresive. Something a huge third party managment corporation considers normal business practices.
The problems I encountered while living at Lexington Farms Apartments in Raleigh NC, are too numerous to detail in this review, but they include the following: Black mold and other mold types. Mice and mice droppings. A rat and rat droppings. A snake. Dirty and clogged AC. Leaking windows. Drainage problems. And some of the biggest spiders I have ever seen small ones too. Lots of them. However, the worst experience I had was the way management handled my complaints, and I how they treated me. For example, complaints about mold fell-on-deaf-ears. I was reated as if the mold didn’t exist or as if the problem was my fault. AND, when I moved out, they billed me for mold clean-up. I felt like I had been punched in the gut and spit on. Talk about adding insult to injury!
Lexington Farms Apartments is over 20-yrs-old. Black mold was inside all the cracks, dips, nooks, and crannies in the painted surfaces around the large floor-to-ceiling windows and kitchen herb window, so it is obvious the management knew about the mold. They encapsulate it, (just paint over), but it is still inside the walls.
I have since found out the way my mold complaints were handled is illegal. Moreover, prior mold infestations should have been disclosed. Lexington Farms simply repeatedly painted over the black mold that grows around the windows and window ledges. The drainage problems and leaky windows create a constant moist environment. Moreover, to get rid of mold odor, the complex hires a company to treat the offending apartments with very large and dangerous ozone generators. But, the musky earthy odors come back, but the lease has already been signed. While living at Lexington Farms, I took pictures because I felt the large amount of mold could be unhealthy. And because the complex did nothing about it. Little did I know I was developing respiratory problems. Google NC Blastomycosis.
I can’t give too many more details in this forum, but I have more, and this issue is ongoing. That being said, I’m sure Lexington Farms have some apartments that are mold free. I only lived in one, so’ However, I bet the whole building I lived in has problems.
Responses
From: MoldInfo 4-22-2010
Mold can cause serious health problems for immune-compromised (infants and elderly) and immune-competent (healthy) people. There are thousands of research studies and papers including the report issued least year by the World Health Organization. For accurate information about the health effects of mold, go to truthaboutmold.info and achemmic.com.
From: Anonymous 4-22-2010
Any health expert will throw the book at the word mold. Do some reasearch and realise websites like this and the other you look at are for people to complain. When was the last time you got happy and decided to blog about it how happy you were. Largest management equals more oppurtunity for complaints. God forbid you buy a house and call the realtor to fix the mold problem or blame your investment. P.S. I DO NOT WORK IN THE OFFICE IF THATS YOUR NEXT RESPONSE. I hate ignorant rviews and I love living here. let me give you some food for thought: How does mold get into a building? Molds are decomposers of organic material such as wood, plants and animals. Mold and mold spores are found in high concentrations wherever there is dead matter such as a pile of leaves, manure or compost. Mold spores enter buildings through the air or on people, animals and objects that are brought into the building. Spores are small bundles of genetic material and chemicals (similar to seeds) that molds make under certain conditions. Are there harmful and non-harmful molds? There are only a few molds that can cause infection in healthy humans. Some molds cause infections only in people with compromised immune systems. The biggest health problem from exposure to mold is allergy and asthma in susceptible people. There are more than 100,000 types of mold. Good information has been developed for only a small number of these molds ?? at least in terms of their effects on human health. Most people tolerate exposure to moderate levels of many different molds without any apparent adverse health effects. Some molds produce powerful chemicals called ??mycotoxins?? that can produce illness in animals and people. Scientific knowledge about the health effects of these toxins on humans is quite limited. Does mold affect everyone the same way? No. Some individuals have a genetic makeup that puts them at risk for developing allergies to mold. People who have an allergy to mold, especially if they also have asthma, can become ill from exposure to a small amount of mold. Individuals also seem to be quite different in their response to exposure to the toxic chemicals that some molds release. These differences between individuals contribute to the difficult question of determining safe exposure limits for mold. How much mold exposure is harmful? No one knows the answer to this question for several reasons. Individuals are very different with respect to the amount of mold exposure they can tolerate. Children under the age of one year may be more susceptible to the effects of some molds than older individuals. Measuring or estimating ??exposure?? levels is very difficult. ??Exposure?? means the amount of mold (microscopic spores and mold fragments) that gets into a person usually by breathing, but also by eating or absorption through the skin. For example, a building may have a lot of mold in the walls but very little of that mold is getting into the air stream. In that case the people working or living in that building would have little mold exposure. If mold is present, what??s the best way to get rid of it? The answer depends on how much mold is present and where it is located. If the mold is on furnishings or boxes simply discard the materials. Moldy materials are not considered hazardous waste; they can be sent to a regular landfill. However, it is smart to seal the mold material in heavy plastic to protect the people who handle it in transit and prevent spreading large amounts of the mold into the building as you carry the material out of it. If the mold is on a hard surface but occupies less than 10 square feet wash the area with soapy water (scrubbing with a brush may be necessary), rinse and allow the area to dry before repainting. If you have asthma, severe allergies and a weaken immune system get someone else to do the clean up. Larger areas (greater than 10 square feet in area) should be cleaned by someone with experience in doing this type of work. Remember, determine what caused the moisture problem and correct that problem. Otherwise, mold is likely to recur. The answer depends upon what is meant by ??completely eliminate mold.?? To keep a building completely free of mold spores requires very efficient air filtration and is only accomplished in special situations such as hospital operating rooms and manufacturing ??clean rooms.?? Remember, mold spores are in the outside air virtually all the time and some of them will get inside buildings. However, it is possible to keep mold from growing inside a building. Moisture control is the key to controlling mold in interior spaces. Air filtration can contribute to lowering mold spores in the air but is secondary to moisture control.
From: SickFormerTenant 4-22-2010
Hello Anonymous. Thank you for your comment in response to my experience and review of Lexington Farms Apartments. I appreciate the opportunity to expand the scope of my complaint. Clearly, there is regular-everyday-common-mold, inside and outside homes. And then there is MOLD. The grounds around my apartment chronically flooded. Those big windows are approximately a foot off the ground and the rain repeatedly splattered muddy material into and onto the window ledges. Water build up would form a small “pond” right outside my back windows. Furthermore, the apartment is positioned such that it never gets sunlight. The windows stay moist and leak. That moisture seeps inside the walls and around the window frames, which like I said are approximately a foot off the ground. I have detailed pictures: Macro images and others. And, btw, as a consumer for 50 years, I have in fact written many positive and glowing reviews. I believe in the free market, and word of mouth. It is the most effective form of advertisement available. Good or bad. Thanks also for your extensive information regarding mold. At this point, however, I have educated myself regarding multiple aspects of mold: Legal and health. And, I have seen what’s behind the walls. Like you stated in your comment, moisture control is the problem. Indeed, approximately 20 years of leaky windows, poor drainage, and no sunshine could in fact be the culprit. The AC also dripped water through the ceiling. Certainly all that water doesn’t do anything to hinder mold! I am glad you have a nice safe place. However, you should not judge others until you have walked in their shoes. Or, in this case, lived in their apartment. Peace.
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