Mold: good news and bad news

OK, well Joe and I had a meeting today with the woman in charge of maintenance (she's actually the CFO, but she's kinda acting as the head of maintenance right now, too, because they haven't found his replacement, and the decision for what maintenance happens - and what doesn't happen - kinda defaults to her, since she's in control of the money). She seems like a very nice and reasonable person. She said right off the bat that the school is hiring a "mold mitigation contractor" to come in and evaluate four sites on campus that have mold issues, one of which is our prospective apartment. She says that mold has always been an issue at this school (we are located in humid central Connecticut, plus there is a lake, two brooks, and a swamp on school property). She actually mentioned that it is a health concern and "an issue with our insurance" (health insurance? property insurance? who knows), and that they want to take care of it. GOOD NEWS! The fact that they are hiring a professional to assess the situation and make recommendations makes us feel very good - this is someone who knows what he's doing. Also good news. She also said that our mildewy room is the least extensive of the four problem spots, so she anticipates it will be finished relatively quickly. More good news.

Here's the bad(ish) news, or, at least, the stuff that Joe and I are still a little apprehensive about: the mold contractor won't be coming in to look at the place until June 15th, since this is the deadline for when the current tenant needs to move out. He will then make his recommendations to the school, who will more than likely do the work as "an inside job" (i.e., using our maintenance crew, who are more than capable). Our worry is that the recommendations may come in the form of "X is the minimum that needs to be done, but Y would be the most thorough solution" ... and we'd be willing to bet that in this economy, the school may opt to do X, the cheaper solution. Not only that, but we won't find out what the recommendations and solution are until late June, when we're out on Long Island for vacation, and with only a week or two to spare before we'd have to move. We don't want to be faced with the possibility of a solution that we find unacceptable, and be unable to advocate for ourselves in person, and be forced (possibly) to turn down the apartment at the very last minute. That would stink.

Anyway, we're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll do the right thing and follow through on all the repairs that are recommended. We definitely drove the "newborn infant sleeping in that room" point home a few times, so I hope they don't cut any corners. We still have faith, but in the meantime we'll keep in contact with them, stay diligent, and maintain cautious optimism. I would REALLY love to have a room to set up for our little girl. It would be pretty sweeeeeet.