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Mold spreading to several apartments in Las Vegas public housing complex

Posted at 12:04 AM, Mar 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-25 03:04:22-04

Several apartments are being taken over by mold, and the tenants say it's taken months to get anything done about it.

Shaunell Gatewood lives in public housing near Charleston Boulevard and Eastern Avenue.

She says two months ago, she came home to an inch of water in her house. Since then, mold has grown and she says faulty plumbing has made the place unlivable.

"I can't use the bathroom anymore," Gatewood said. "I can't use the rooms, I can't use the water, I can't wash any clothes."

The conditions have put Gatewood's 2-year-old daughter in Sunrise Hospital. A doctor diagnosed her with mold exposure, among other things.

Gatewood says her daughter's temperature reached 106 degrees.

She told us she's had no luck getting the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority to respond, but she was surprised to come home Friday to find the moldy section of her house tarped off, seemingly for repairs.

Gatewood shares her duplex with Mercedes Smith, who has the same mold and plumbing problems.

Smith says a maintenance worker told her her walls would have to be torn out and pipes replaced.

She calls it a hopeless feeling.

"They don't do anything, they don't take care of anything, they don't even care," Smith said. "We pay our rent. We want to be able to live the way everybody else is living paying their rent. That's it."

The Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority's website lists an office location and a phone number.

13 Action News went during regular business hours and the office was locked. Our voicemail message wasn't returned either.