Did she just catch her landlord lying about not finding mold?

A tenant went viral after she caught her boss lying about a suspicious growth bubbling in her closet.

Sheridan Ellis (@sheridanellis) recently posted a series of videos to her TikTok account, where she has nearly 27,000 followers. In the first videos, she showed viewers the mold in question and thought about what to do. She then reported her landlord who had plotted to lie to her about their findings.

As of Sunday morning, his most-watched video chronicling his plight had garnered more than 2.7 million views.

Tenant finds workers lying

In a video, Ellis said they first told him they would send a professional to come and test the “growth.” However, she wasn’t home when they arrived, so she found a way to capture their conversation remotely.

“I was at work and watched and recorded with my dog’s camera as they prepared what they needed to say to me so they wouldn’t lose their job,” she said. After gathering this evidence, she said she went to Home Depot to purchase her own mold testing kits. According to her, this confirmed that it was indeed mold in her closet.

“I know I’m not a mold expert, but to me it doesn’t look like pepper jack or gouda,” she said of her findings.

To make matters worse, Ellis said another tenant had a similar problem and told him the mold was just dust. “She lost $7,000 worth of stuff,” Ellis said.

The tenant said that despite the evidence she collected (more on that below), her apartment still denied she had mold. But not only did Ellis have video proof of this fact, she said she got a rash that covered her neck and shoulders.

“I recorded everything. I have a whole scrapbook of stuff,” Ellis said. She encouraged viewers not to move to her apartment complex, the Ross + Peak apartment in Dallas, Texas.

@sheridanellis Proof Part 1 of the Ross + Peak apartment complex lying. I checked my camera while I was at work and watched them walk around – without testing anything – and planning what to say to myself 🙃 #cushmanandwakefield #cushmanwakefield #dallas #rosspeak #mold #apartment #leasing # CAMPfacility #CAMP ♬ original sound – Sheridan Ellis

Wait, what did the tenant record?

In Ellis’ evidentiary video, which she said she recorded with her dog’s camera, she overheard three people in her apartment discussing what to tell her about the mold.

“I had my complex test for mold in my HVAC closet that grew from a leak they never fixed,” she wrote in the text overlay. “I was told they didn’t find anything, so I checked my camera…”

In the recorded video, an anonymous woman appears to suggest telling him the truth. But then another worker intervened.

“I wouldn’t even do all that,” the man said. “I would just say… ‘The growth, the organic growth that we found, we cut it off and removed it.’”

He continued, “Y’all are going to clean his air ducts or something. ” At one point, the man almost suggested calling the material found in the closet “mold,” but then he stumbled over his words and said he preferred to call it “organic growth” because ” none of us are scientists.”

In fact, towards the end of the video, he increased his efforts. He said telling the tenant “less is more.” The apartment staff nodded.

In a follow-up video, Ellis showed viewers the mold in question. She wondered why her apartment was lying to her about mold and confirmed that workers told her they found “organic growth” (instead of mold) in her closet. However, she said there was “so much mold and organic growth” that workers had to cut out an adjacent wall.

She also said the mold was supposedly in a locked HVAC closet that only apartment workers could access with a special key.

“So, yeah, what would you do, just hypothetically?” she jokingly asked viewers.

@sheridanellis Proof Part 1 of the Ross + Peak apartment complex lying. I checked my camera while I was at work and watched them walk around – without testing anything – and planning what to say to myself 🙃 #cushmanandwakefield #cushmanwakefield #dallas #rosspeak #mold #apartment #leasing # CAMPfacility #CAMP ♬ original sound – Sheridan Ellis

What happens if there is mold in your apartment?

Tenants can receive compensation for mold damage to their homes, according to a Texas-based legal blog. But the mold shouldn’t have gotten to this point, the blog suggests. Indeed, “the law states that Texas landlords have a duty to remove conditions that “materially affect the health and physical safety of an ordinary tenant.”

However, the law in question is somewhat uncertain as to when the resort must remove mold. He noted that the owners were given a “reasonable” amount of time to resolve the issue, even though it appeared that Ellis’ videos documenting his predicament were filmed over an extended period of time. In general, however, it says mold-related issues should be resolved no later than seven days after the tenant’s first complaint.

For tenants like Ellis, whose apartment complexes refuse to help them, the blog says they are entitled to certain rights. For example, he suggested that a person like Ellis should be able to either terminate their lease, take legal action, or have a third party repair the mold problem, then “deduct the cost of the repair from your rent.” He also said people suffering from health problems due to mold should contact a personal injury attorney immediately.

Others intervene

And thanks to the evidence Ellis had, viewers suggested she wait to pay her rent until the problem was resolved. Most viewers said she should resolve the matter in court.

“Don’t pay them rent directly, go to your courthouse, file a tenant’s declaration, your rent will be filed directly with the court until the problem is resolved,” one woman suggested.

“This trial will be epic,” said another.

“Sue them,” echoed a third viewer.

Other viewers noted that their apartment management also lied to them.

“Our apartment flooded during the last tax freeze due to neglect of the apartment and it took threatening lawyers and a bad review on Google to get out of our lease,” one person shared.

“This happened in my apartment which had mold and made me sick, they lit me up so much,” added another.

The Daily Dot reached out to Ellis for comment on TikTok. We contacted Ross + Peak Apartments through their online messaging portal.

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