Black Mold Injuries in Georgia Rental Properties

Published Read 4 min read

On this page

A tenant who blames mold in a Georgia rental for an illness has to show both a landlord’s breach and medical causation. The landlord’s duty comes from two statutes on repair and habitability; the causation question comes from the rules on expert proof. A builder or repair contractor can be a separate defendant on a separate clock.

The Landlord’s Duty

Georgia requires the landlord to keep the premises in repair (OCGA 44-7-13(a)). Since the Safe at Home Act (2024 Ga. Laws, HB 404, effective July 1, 2024), every agreement to rent real property as a dwelling, written or oral, is treated as promising that the premises is fit for human habitation (OCGA 44-7-13(b)). The amendment applies to residential leases entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2024.

Even a landlord that has handed over full possession stays liable for two things, defective construction and a failure to keep the premises in repair, though not for the tenant’s own negligence (OCGA 44-7-14). Where mold starts matters. In Cham v. ECI Management Corp., 311 Ga. 170 (2021), the Supreme Court of Georgia explained that landlords have long been excepted from general landowner liability as to premises possessed by tenants, the exception now found in OCGA 44-7-14, while the general premises duty of OCGA 51-3-1 applied in that case to a parking lot that was undisputedly a common area of the apartment complex.

What the CDC Says About Mold and Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes exposure to damp and moldy conditions as able to cause a range of health effects, or none at all. For people sensitive to mold, the effects it lists include a stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing or wheezing, burning eyes, or a skin rash; people with asthma or a mold allergy may react severely, and people with weakened immune systems or chronic lung disease may develop lung infections. CDC does not treat the type of mold as the deciding question: it states that a person does not need to know the type of mold, and it does not recommend mold testing, advising instead that the mold be removed safely and its return prevented. Under that guidance the label “black mold” does not settle anything by itself; a claim still depends on the landlord’s duty and on medical proof that the exposure caused the illness.

Proving That Mold Caused the Illness

Whether exposure caused an illness is a question of medical proof. The Supreme Court of Georgia has held that expert evidence is not needed to prove causation in a simple negligence case, but is needed where the causation question is one that only a witness with specialized medical knowledge can answer accurately (Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622 (2010)). Under OCGA 24-7-702(b), the expert’s opinion has to stand on enough facts or data, come from reliable methods, and apply those methods reliably to this tenant’s case.

Builders and Repair Contractors

A company that designed, built, or supervised the construction of the dwelling is not governed by the landlord statutes. For an injury to the person arising out of a deficiency in the planning, design, specifications, supervision, or construction of an improvement to real property, no action may be brought against the person who performed or furnished that work more than eight years after substantial completion, with a two-year window for an injury in the seventh or eighth year and a ten-year outer limit (OCGA 9-3-51(a), (b)).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a tenant’s written repair requests be used as evidence?
Records of a regularly conducted activity, such as a landlord’s repair requests and work orders, can come in under the hearsay exception in OCGA 24-8-803(6) if they were made at or near the time of the events by a person with knowledge and meet the rule’s other requirements, “[u]nless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness.”

Can what a tenant told a doctor be used?
Yes, to the extent reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment: statements made to get a diagnosis or treatment that describe medical history, symptoms, or the general cause of the condition fall outside the hearsay bar (OCGA 24-8-803(4)).

How long does a tenant have to sue?
The period for injuries to the person is two years after the right of action accrues (OCGA 9-3-33).

  • OCGA 44-7-13(a), (b) (as amended by 2024 Ga. Laws, HB 404, effective July 1, 2024); OCGA 44-7-14; OCGA 51-3-1; Cham v. ECI Management Corp., 311 Ga. 170 (2021)
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Mold”
  • Cowart v. Widener, 287 Ga. 622 (2010); OCGA 24-7-702(b)
  • OCGA 9-3-51(a), (b)
  • OCGA 24-8-803(4), (6); OCGA 9-3-33

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about mold claims in rental housing under Georgia law. It is not legal or medical advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a landlord is liable depends on the lease, the date it was entered into or renewed, the source of the moisture, and medical evidence. A tenant with a health concern should seek medical care and consult a licensed Georgia attorney promptly about the particular situation.

Related posts:

  1. Government Liability Claims in Georgia: Suing the State and Local Governments A person injured by a government employee, vehicle, or property in Georgia first has to identify which government is responsible. The State, a city, a county, and the United States......
  2. Rear-End Collisions: Who Is Really At Fault? After a rear-end crash, fault is not settled by which car was in back: Georgia has no rule that the rear driver is presumed to be at fault. A collision......
  3. College Campus Injury Claims in Georgia Whether a college is public or private decides which statutes govern an injury on its campus. A claim against a state institution runs through the Georgia Tort Claims Act, with......
  4. Chronic Pain Syndrome Following Georgia Accidents Pain that continues after an injury has healed is what MedlinePlus calls chronic pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition that "may happen after an......
  5. Traffic Signal Malfunction Claims in Georgia When a crash follows a traffic signal that showed the wrong indication, flashed, or could not be seen, a Georgia claim depends on what the Code tells a driver each......
  6. Boating and Watercraft Accident Claims in Georgia In a civil claim, Georgia's statutes treat a boat much as they treat a car: the owner of a watercraft "shall be liable for any tort caused by the operation......
  7. Facial Fractures and Disfigurement in Georgia Injury Cases A face that strikes a steering column, an airbag, or a windshield can leave an injury that outlasts the fracture itself: an asymmetric cheek, a scar across the lip, a......
  8. Child Dog Bite Injuries in Georgia: Facial Scarring and Lasting Trauma A dog bite to a child's face leaves a family with questions that play out over years: how the scar and the fear will change as the child grows, and......
  9. Georgia Personal Injury Statute of Limitations: Deadlines That Kill Claims Georgia sets the filing deadline by what was harmed and by who the defendant is. Injury to the person carries two years, loss of consortium and damage to property carry......
  10. Defective Car Seat Claims in Georgia: Child Restraint Failures and Product Liability When a child seat does not hold a child in a crash, a Georgia claim against its maker starts from the federal standard the seat had to meet and Georgia's......
  11. Dangerous Intersection Design Claims in Georgia A claim that a Georgia intersection was designed dangerously meets a set of immunity and notice statutes before it reaches the question of fault. The State keeps its immunity for......
  12. Defective Medical Devices in Georgia: Hip Implants, Pacemakers, and Product Liability The path an implanted device took to market shapes which state-law claims over its failure survive. A device that received the Food and Drug Administration's premarket approval is shielded from......
  13. Georgia’s 50% Bar Rule: How Comparative Negligence Affects Your Claim Georgia's 50 percent bar decides whether an injured person's award shrinks or disappears. If the trier of fact finds the injured person less than 50 percent responsible, the judge reduces......
  14. Herniated Disc Injuries from Georgia Car Accidents A herniated disc found after a crash raises one question before any other: did the collision cause it, or was the disc already wearing out? MedlinePlus describes both routes. A......
  15. Hospital Visitor Injury Claims in Georgia A visitor hurt in a hospital corridor, lobby, or parking area is not the patient, and Georgia law treats the visitor's claim as a premises claim rather than a claim......
  16. Dog Attacks on Delivery Workers in Georgia For a delivery worker bitten at a customer's door, the claim against the dog's owner depends first on what the owner knew about the dog and on the worker's legal......

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *