A Greenburgh couple claims they were forced to abandon their home because the cooperative corporation refused to remediate mold.
Daniel and Kristina Hartman accused Wyndover Woods Apartments Inc. of breaching a warranty of habitability, in a complaint filed on July 28 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“Failure to maintain the building as required under the governing documents and New York law,” the complaint states, “rendered the subject premises uninhabitable.”
Wyndover Woods comprises 168 apartments in seven 2-story structures built around 1963, west of the Bronx River.
Daniel Hartman bought a 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,000-square-foot apartment in 2021 for $199,000.
Less than a year later, according to the complaint, Kristina began experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms. In 2023, she tested positive for an intestinal bacteria, and last year a rheumatologist found markers of elevated inflammation.
The couple hired a mold expert to determine if Kristina’s condition was caused by mold in their home. Last December, the inspector allegedly found indications of microbial growth throughout the apartment, as well as evidence of water intrusion.
The Hartmans abandoned the apartment in December but continued to pay the monthly maintenance fee, the complaint states. In January, a test revealed mycotoxins, produced by mold spores, in Kristina’s blood.
The Hartmans contend that the cooperative corporation is required to fix or replace damages that render an apartment unlivable, unless caused by their negligence.
This past February, the cooperative’s superintendent found a crack in the building’s exterior that had allowed water to enter the Hartmans’ apartment, the complaint states. The superintendent repaired the crack but “trivialized the mold problem.”
The Hartmans’ attorney demanded more repairs and mold remediation, and the cooperative conducted another inspection. On May 2, Wyndover Woods allegedly admitted that it had been responsible for repairing the crack. But it disavowed responsibility for conditions in the apartment and concluded that the apartment is inhabitable.
The Hartmans are asking the court to declare that Wyndover Woods in effect evicted them by causing a hazardous mold condition and that it is obligated to remediate the mold. They are demanding unspecified monetary damages for housing and other costs they have incurred.
Efforts to find contact information for Wyndover Woods, to ask for its side of the story, failed.
