Management Company Won't Help Get Rid of Toxic Mold: Resident

A family has been forced to vacate its Upper East Side apartment after experts found unsafe levels of airborne black mold in the home, and the family says the building’s management company is doing nothing to help fix the problem.

Resident Monica Iken says she is battling with Century Management to get rid of the mold that has left her two young daughters with headaches and forced her family to relocate.

Iken says the mold stems from a leak in one of the apartment’s bathrooms. The management company thought the leak was caused by rain water and let the leak fester for more than a year and a half, she says.

The leak eventually spread across the ceiling through half of her apartment, causing the molding to crack, she says.

When the management company finally tore open the bathroom, they saw the massive leak was coming from the upstairs apartment, Iken says. That’s when the mold became airborne and spread all over the apartment, according to test results Iken received from a mold expert.

"He said, ‘You have to get out,’” Iken said. “He couldn't believe the levels of the different spores we had floating around in the living room."

Iken, her husband, two daughters and the cats vacated their apartment nearly a month ago, but she says they are still waiting for Century Management to help them.

When Iken decided to take matters into her own hands to get rid of the mold, the management company wouldn't even let her do that, she says. Instead, the management company has told her they are waiting for their own mold expert to assess the situation.

NBC 4 New York reached out to Century Management which declined to comment.

Meanwhile, her daughters, who have complained of headaches, are being tested to see if the mold entered their blood stream.

“Right now my priority is getting my children home,” Iken said. “I want them to be home and I want them to be happy.” 

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