NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) -- Several tenants of Iberia South Apartments have started a petition relating to complaints of black mold and mildew at the apartment complex that they say have remain unfixed. Tenants are also going on strike by withholding their rent until they see change.

Elizabeth Landry, who has been a tenant there for five years, said she had been sick a lot but didn’t know why it kept happening. 

“Sinus infection, respiratory infection. I've been going to the E.R. They have all been diagnosed with sinus, respiratory infection, weakness, dizziness. [I had] a bad cough I couldn't get rid of. The cough goes away, the cough comes back, spitting up yellow and green mucus, blowing up my nose with yellow and green clots of mucus. Headache every day,” she said.

“I raised my window sills up to see all the mold," she said.

Landry soon found out she was not the only one dealing with mold. She said she has reported the concerns to the leasing agent who claimed it would be checked.

Jacqueline Trim, who has also lived at the complex for five years, said the apartment complex has gone through different management over that time.

“I have so many problems in my apartment. I have reported it,” said Trim.

Among those problems, Trim said she has made complaints to the apartment management about wrongfully being charged for water, sewage and trash services.

"I can't understand how they're going to charge us for water when we don't have a water meter. They're charging us for sewage. They're charging us for trash. First of all, we didn't get a paper stating that we are going to be charged with this, but they took it out of my account," she said.

Other issues she has reported include a crack underneath her door, mildew underneath her cabinets and mildew over her washer and dryer, she said.

"It’s time for a change," she said.

Jaime Lee, who has lived there since December, said she experiencing issues at the apartment complex soon after she moved in. She said she stopped paying her rent after May because that's when she started having major issues, such as a kitchen full of mold and sewage backing up into the bathtub.

“I go back all the way from May for things wrong, taking pictures, trying to get them to fix it. All the bottom of my cabinet is bust up and full of mold,” said Lee.

“My little boy came to stay with me two months ago. Never had an asthma problem in two years. He came here the third day he had an asthma attack. It's crazy. They want you to pay and then I've been telling them to evict me. I got evidence it goes way back to when I stopped paying you and I was $6,000. They still ain’t evicted me yet. It’s just crazy. They want you to pay but they are not fixing anything," Lee said.

David Manuel III and his wife have been there for seven months. 

“Since we've been here, we've been having issues. Everybody in the complex has issues, but nothing has gotten done. We have outlets in the kitchen that don't work in the hallway, that's out. The bathroom, the drainage, the toilet, it rocks. So it's a bunch of things that need to be done, and need to be addressed but within a year and seven months, nothing has been done,” he said. 

He adds there’s an empty apartment next door to him that's been empty since he has lived there. 

“Disgusting! There’s mold, feces all over the carpet,” he said, “The cats go in. So I actually have a tie the door off to the railing to actually keep the animals from going. It’s a nuisance.”

Stacy Benoit, who has been staying with her mother for eight months, said she and her 15-year-old son with disabilities catch headaches all the time. 

“It's been rough with the little molding and stuff. I've been going to the doctor. I got an asthma pump, I've been taking that. My son has been catching headaches as well and coughing, bad headaches,” Benoit said. 

Luis Rivera, a tenant since 2019, said he suffers from asthma.

“I got mold in my lungs. I went to the hospital like three times a week. Now it’s getting a little better," Rivera said. "In the apartment it was catching mold and stuff like that, and I reported it. They never did anything about it.”

He shared that his doctor sent a note to the complex about his medical needs and to resolve the mold. 

Pansy Woods, who has been there for two years, said she talked to management about the mold problems. 

“The mold smell is so strong, it comes into the vent and every time you turn either the heater on or the AC on, you can smell the mold from the bottom apartments coming in through the vents,” she said.

“From two years on until now when I would write my rent, I would attach a note asking them to address it and we still haven't as of this day. So I'm not sure at this point where we go from here," she continued.

Tenants expressed the rent has been going up and want the mold to be resolved along with other maintenance reports.

News 10 called multiple times and left several voicemails to the complex office and Integrity Rise Property Management requesting comment but have not received a response. 

Latest News