MONTREAL - The Montreal public health department wants a family of six to move out of their Park Extension apartment due to mould it says the landlord has neglected to fix.
The health agency said the apartment on Stuart St. is dangerously contaminated with mould and the family should leave within two weeks.
Tenant Malik Ali said it's affecting his family's health.
"My children get bleeding noses and my wife gets headaches… You can see there is the fungus. All my clothes had to be thrown in the garbage," he said.
The public health department concluded that water infiltration and mould contamination is a serious risk to the family's health.
Ali moved into the apartment two months ago with his wife and four children. Mould is all over the home, he said.
"It's all over the floor and he (the landlord) was telling me I brought it myself… I have no money to move," he said.
Park Ex city councillor Mary Deros said the conditions are unlivable.
"It's unacceptable that people in this day and age should have live in these unacceptable conditions," she said.
A city inspector is due to inspect all the units in the building Wednesday. If he confirms public health findings, it will help families move into public housing units at least temporarily to escape the unhealthy living conditions.
Ali said he called the landlord, Claudio Di Giambattista, to ask for repairs, but that he would get angry at the request.
"He just called me today at 10 o'clock and said, ‘Hey I'm going to put you in jail. The police are coming for you,'" said Malik.
Di Giambattista, who had apartments seized from him in the past by the city of Montreal, did not return phone calls made to him Tuesday by CTV.
Three weeks ago, Ali sought out help from Park Extension community worker Andre Trepanier, who agreed the home is in dire shape.
"It's the first time that I see for myself furniture all covered with mould," he said, adding that the city must take a tough stance on mouldy conditions.
"We want to know what the city did in the past year to do a follow-up about this well-known owner in Park Ex," he said.
The city said it will follow up on any complaints.
Meantime, Ali said he can't wait to get his family out.
"Everything is bad," he said. "We're suffering like hell."
