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-area 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.
Naively, I encouraged him to call the county health department because I thought this apparent fungal growth was a public health issue. But the health department said it was not within their purview to police apartment mold infestation. I could not find any other governmental entity that might regulate it. Shortly after that, the complex’s management coincidentally had his second vehicle towed without notice while he was away at work. That was despite his lease agreement allowing him to park two vehicles on the premises. He had to pay hundreds of dollars to get it out of impound, and the complex refused to give him a break on his rent to rectify the error…