PENDER COUNTY — Around 20 residents gathered at a meeting with the leader of the Pender County Housing Authority Tuesday afternoon regarding mold problems that have perforated their apartments for years.
READ MORE: Flooding in Scotts Hill sparks commissioner conversation about trees, clear-cutting
Gathered at the county’s government office in Burgaw, the residents met with the county’s housing authority director, Sue Sava. She assured Seven Oaks residents their concerns were being addressed by the authority and pointed to issues with Excel Property Management.
“Excel Property Management has faced challenges with staffing, leading to the inconsistency in property management and maintenance,” Sava said, later telling a resident: “This should have been addressed with Excel.”
Sava has been the housing authority director in Pender County since 2021 and also served as the onsite property manager for Excel until sometime last summer. Excel was contracted to oversee the 40-unit property in 2009.
“At any time you are not receiving an adequate response from the on-site, property management or maintenance staff, you should contact the housing authority directly,” Sava said at the meeting.
Excel’s contract will end in September and it will not renew, according to Pender County spokesperson Brandi Cobb.
Cobb said the housing authority had not received any direct reports from tenants regarding mold issues; however, an email Sava sent last year, signed from her official Pender County government address, indicates otherwise.
“I have unfortunately received several complaints about seven oaks and maintenance issues not being taken care of. From black like substance issues. Ovens being broken for over a week. Toilets backed up with no response for a week for plumber to get in. Busted windows,” Sava wrote from her government email address in August 2023, sent to several people who work for Excel.
Another email from March 2024 further verifies issues were persistent.
“Client stopped at office regarding issues in her apartment,” Sava wrote from her government email to Excel. “The most important thing is black-like substance growing in her apartment.”
She added the resident could be transferred to another unit if warranted “rather than putting a lot of money” into rehabilitation of the apartment.
“We can just get carpets cleaned and let her move across the hall,” she continued. “Keep in mind she is not one of your cleanest tenants.”
Pender spokesperson Cobb said the county received reports of mold from Excel, which the county is currently working with to solve the issues.
Sava detailed in other emails that communications between the property manager and housing authority needed to be strengthened. According to a source privy to the situation, there have been around four people shuffling in and out of the property management position since Sava left.
Multiple calls to Excel and Sava went unanswered by press.
She also said in an email obtained by PCD she was concerned that Excel wasn’t taking care of residential needs and expressed that if tenants wanted to reach out to the authority, they were within their rights.
“Our clients are told not to contact housing authority,” Sava wrote in an email. “Which I agree that they should go through you first. However, if the issues are not being addressed they have every right to come to the housing authority as we are the owners of the property. I do not need them going to my board or county manager. As I am the one that pushed for Excel Property Management to take management back.”
Pender County commissioners did not respond to PCD’s multiple attempts for comment.
The residents
Multiple residents of Seven Oaks told Port City Daily they have had mold issues in their units dating back to 2022.
Carlie Taylor, who lived in the neighborhood for five years, moved out in 2024 due to ongoing problems. She said it started when flooding from 2018’s Hurricane Florence led to growth of a black substance on the floors of her apartment.
“They would cover it up but not actually fix it,” she said of Excel. “They would just do a patch.”
Another resident, Jasmin Moore, mentioned when she moved into the neighborhood in 2022 she found mold present in her bathroom, as well as on the walls of her living room and kitchen.
She recounted an incident where her daughter, barely touching a wall, caused it to collapse, exposing black mold behind it.
“It was already really soft in that spot,” Moore said.
Moore said no effective solution was implemented. By January 2023, the only action taken was the replacement of cabinets; she remains concerned mold may still be present in the unit today.
“I mean the mold is inside the wall,” Moore said. “The fix just covered it up. It’s back again.”
Apparently the growth came from a leaky AC unit from upstairs, which Moore said has now been corrected.
Still, judging by the lack of urgency in the past, the resident questioned whether to believe Sava’s message on Tuesday that the housing authority will tackle all issues.
“We have been putting up with this for two years and nothing has been done,” Moore said. “Why should we think anything will be done now?”
Testing
Last month, Excel hired Coastal Environmental and Inspections to conduct testing; however, it only executed it in three areas: one unit, the office, and the community center.
Results revealed elevated levels of chaetomium mold in the bathroom of the unit; this type of mold creates moisture for sterigmatocystin to grow, which can be toxic to the kidneys and liver. The reports also indicated significantly high levels of aspergillus, penicillium, and trichoderma mold in the office, and moderately high levels of these molds in the community center. Some of these molds are airborne.
“They [county] gave Excel the opportunity to handle it by themselves, and so that didn’t happen, and so we are sort of managing it with them,” Cobb said on a phone call Tuesday.
The county has now contracted its own hygienist, APR Restorations, to test all 40 units of Seven Oaks. The North Carolina-based restoration, repair, and emergency mitigation company will assess the units for mold. The contract, costing the county $15,300, includes mold testing for the remaining units and the office. It did not require approval from the commissioners because the cost is below the $30,000 threshold, which would mandate a vote by the board.
The county conducted a bid search and one email from Julie Johnson, an estimator at RestorePro Construction, outlined its proposal for mold testing and remediation services. It based its bid on results provided by Coastal Environmental and Inspections’ testing.
“I wanted to add a note of explanation now that I have reviewed your original test results,” Johnson writes in an email. “There are 3 molds present inside the building that are not present outside the building. One is ‘toxic black mold’ … Stachybotrys, and in our area, this should not be inside in any amount.”
Johnson further indicated it could mean wet wood is still in the walls. The county did not move forward with RestorePro Construction for the bid.
Testing with APR will begin this week on Aug. 28 and last through Aug. 30. Results are expected to be returned next week.
“We will keep everybody informed as to what the findings are,” Sava told residents Tuesday.
Tips or comments? Email jalyn@localdailymedia.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
