Mold Forces Sandy Affected W. Babylon Family From Rental Home

A West Babylon family is packing up and moving out again for the second time in less than a year after finding large mold growths in their FEMA-funded apartment.

The Norinder family has been living at The Harbour Club in West Babylon since being forced out of their home during Hurricane Sandy. The family has been renting a two-bedroom, FEMA-funded apartment for months now while they try to rebuild.

According to PIX11, mother Lauren Norinder noticed her four-year old son, Lucas, developing a more pronounced cough in recent months. Lucas suffers from severe bronchial asthma. When Lauren and her husband looked for a possible "trigger," the couple found mold growing in their closet.

“Having to go through what we went through—losing our house, and then our stuff, and going through it again,” she told PIX11. “We’re homeless.”

The couple decided to break their year-long lease early and move to Lauren's mothers for their son's sake.

The leasing manager at The Harbour Club told the couple they would not receive their $4,000 security deposit back in a letter stating "because of the lack of proper upkeep and housekeeping, you could cause damage to the property and you will be responsible for the damage.”

The owner of The Harbour Club apologized on-air for the letter, but stated the family was the first to complain about mold at the apartments. According to the owner, Hurricane Sandy did not flood the complex, located just north of the Bergen Point Golf Course.

The owner blamed the family for not keeping air conditioning running during the heat wave in July, contributing to the mold growth in the closets.

Both the family and complex owners have hired inspectors to check the apartment for the cause of the mold.