Hi everyone, looking for some expert advice!
My dd has just moved into a rental property with 3 other people.
Somehow (in spite of a visit before renting by one of the other house sharers) the property was in an awful state when they moved in. Without going into details industrial cleaners had to come in, there's probably a rodent infestation , the dishwasher has had to be thrown, a window is broken etc
The landlord doesn't seem like a particularly reasonable person. She has already called them "nightmare tenants" in spite of them having proof that the letting agency clearly informed her a week ago that the place was unfit to live in until a massive clean had taken place. It is now clean. However there is a huge mould problem, mostly in the downstairs where windows are limited. To the point that curtains etc are full of it and having to be chucked. The landlady has said that she will address this - but what should the tenants be asking her to actually do? I am hoping that at least some of the issue is because the place has been left empty for 5 months so no fresh air in it at. But I think that is probably an underlying problem as one part of the property, the part it is really difficult to get fresh air coming through, has mould on the walls. The floorboards are also damp (they too are going to be looked at, apparently) which suggests damp to me.
Any advice? DD's concern is that the landlord will undertake purely cosmetic work and when the mould reappears she will blame the tenants. The landlord is managing the property herself, the agency was simply used to advertise.
Many thanks.