A rent sign is displayed in front of an apartment building. (Getty Images)(This image cannot be republished unless you have a subscription to Getty.)
When I moved to Oklahoma over a decade ago, I had no idea that state laws here give the upper hand to bad landlords and give tenants struggling with catastrophic issues — think raccoon infestations, flooding and mold — little recourse if repairs aren’t made.
But then I watched my then-boyfriend wage an unsuccessful campaign against an Oklahoma City metro apartment complex after an odd, smelly black substance began to grow around a ventilation shaft in his bathroom and air conditioning unit. Property management refused to treat it and told him he could fork out hundreds of dollars in his own money to identify whether the substance was indeed mold…