I have an employee who signed a lease / paid a deposit for an apartment last month and was supposed to have moved in two weeks ago. However, there's a lot of mold, and the landlord is not fixing it.

She can't get her money back, and the landlord is playing hardball. Can anyone point me in the right direction to help get this fixed?

I don't know if they specifically do tenant representation, but I know a handful of Real Estate attorneys at Phelps Dunbar. Great folks. If they can't take the case, I bet they could recommend someone who will.
Worth a call to their offices. They have offices in Fort Worth & Southlake.

Good point. Small Claims court should be sufficient. Call the JPs office and ask the the clerk for an instruction sheet which should cover filing fees and procedures. If she has all of the documentation, it should be relatively easy to recoup the deposit.

you got me on deposit. this person doesn't have much money, fwiw. and i'm well out of my element

i'll have them contact the folks above for some advice.

I deal with this a lot for landlords. Mold is a very subjective issue. Read the lease. What does it say about mold? Is it enough to create a habitability issue? Most mold is not necessarily dangerous and can be cleaned. Issue is if it is caused by leak somewhere behind walls and thus most mold is also hidden. Suggest having a lawyer send demand to simply terminate the lease early and refund deposit. If that doesn't work then could likely file own lawsuit for breach of implied warranty of habitability and/or breach of lease. Could also get a mold test done esp if have to go to court. For most landlords, it isn't worth fighting. Could try calling Oboyle and Assoc. They do lots of eviction cases in JP court. Not sure if this would be in their wheelhouse though. Good luck.

Did they see the apartment before they put down the deposit?

No clue. I am admittedly not getting too involved in this but thought I'd ask all knowing texags

Both UNT-Dallas and SMU law schools have legal clinics that may help. I know SMU has a consumer law clinic that handles tenant issues. See if they'll get involved. It may only take a letter from them or any attorney to get the deposit back. I doubt this is a matter the apartment really wants to pursue. The last thing they want is word getting out that their complex has mold in it.

Stive said:

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Did they see the apartment before they put down the deposit?

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Very seldom are we able to show the exact apartment

Most complexes have a fancied up unit to show and it is just a picture of what you might get Kinda like a picture of a burger king hamburger on a tv ad

Most mold issues are not legit so if she can send you a picture and post it would help