Columbia Housing Authority knew of toxic mold that made child sick, lawsuit alleges

Inspections showed that a minor child and their mother were living in an apartment with toxic black mold, but the Columbia Housing Authority did not disclose the results of that inspection and instead told the family that the mold had been taken care of, according to a lawsuit filed against the housing agency last month.

Ebony Chatman and her minor child were living at The Reserves at Faraway Terrace in 2022 when her child began getting headaches, a severe cough and other respiratory problems, according to the lawsuit, which was filed April 19 in state court in Richland County.

Chatman notified the Housing Authority about the health concerns, but the agency did not immediately inspect the property, the lawsuit says. When the Housing Authority did inspect the property, it did not disclose the results of the inspection to Chatman until after she had retained an attorney, the suit adds.

The first inspection was conducted in January 2022. The second inspection was conducted in April 2023, after Chatman retained an attorney. Chatman was not provided the results of the 2022 inspection, which found toxic levels of mold, according to the suit.

Additionally, the housing authority “made misrepresentations” to Chatman about the extent of the mold problem, telling her that the problem had been resolved, the suit adds.

Attorneys Michael Masciale and Kevin Corrigan with Charleston’s O’Reilly Law Firm are representing Chatman in the suit.

They are asking for a jury trial and are hoping for money damages.

Yvonda Bean, CEO of the housing authority, declined to comment on the suit, as the agency does not comment on ongoing legal matters, she said.

This is not the first time that concerns have been raised over toxic levels of mold at The Reserves and other housing authority properties.

In June 2023, housing advocates with the S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center and the Carolina Health Advocacy Medicolegal Partnership (or CHAMPS clinic) decried the conditions at housing authority properties where tenants were reporting mold, roaches and unfair eviction practices.

S.C. Appleseed attorney Emily Blackshire Giel called the properties, which included The Reserves and Latimer Manor, “untenable and frankly uninhabitable,” while speaking to the Housing Authority Board last year.

Macaulay Morrison is the assistant director of the CHAMPS clinic, which serves low-income families and children. She previously told The State that she had numerous clients experiencing health problems from mold at The Reserves.

Her clients are typically referred to her by medical providers who feel some outside issue, such as a person’s living environment, is affecting their health. She started noticing a pattern: A lot of her clients lived at The Reserves. She’s seen severe cases with children sick from exposure to mold in their homes.

“I feel pretty confident calling it a complex-wide issue,” Morrison said at the time.

Bean told The State at the time that both The Reserves and Latimer Manor had mold problems but that those issues had been dealt with.

She also acknowledged that both of the properties required a great deal of work. Both are on the agency’s list of properties it hopes to demolish and rebuild.

When the housing authority completed an analysis of its properties in 2021 as part of its broad Vision 2030 plan, it determined Columbia Housing’s units needed $250 million worth of work. Using a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program, the housing authority plans to demolish a number of its properties in favor of building new, modern housing with more units.