Renters' road to storm recovery

NORFOLK, Va. - There are many renters out there struggling to deal with storm damage and slow-to-respond landlords.

Mitch Wilson used to consider his West Ocean View Apartment a comfortable home. That's no longer the case.

"Right now I'm dealing with mildew and mold. I don't have a refrigerator. Some of the units here don't have heat or air conditioning," said Wilson, who does not want his children to stay in these conditions. "I can handle it, but I don't want my kids to be in this."

Wilson says he is struggling to get information from his landlord. "No definitive answers, just smoke and screens and wait and see, we'll get to it when we can," said Wilson.

On the other hand, WAVY.com did find some landlords in Ocean View working very hard to make things better for their tenants. "And we relocated everyone to another one of the buildings and we are gutting the building and fixing everything so we can get everyone back in their houses," said Craig Barrett, a maintenance man.

If you rent and feel your landlord is not working to fix the storm damage, you can call the Norfolk Cares Assistance Center at 664-6510.

"First of all the responsibility of structural damage does rest with the owner of the property," said Norfolk spokesperson Bob Batcher. He said if you call the city number above, "We'll send an inspector out; we will not get involved between the renter and the landowner, but we can give an assessment of what the damage is and if it's safe to be in that building," said Batcher.

To learn more about your rights as a renter, CLICK HERE .