TAMPA, Fla. — Last month, some residents at Tampa's Silver Oaks Apartments were sounding off about living with broken appliances, mold and rodents. 

Since then, tenants say property managers have been addressing work orders, while others say the damage to their health may be beyond repair. 


What You Need To Know

  • Some residents at Tampa's Silver Oaks Apartments expressed concerns about living with broken appliances, mold and rodents last month

  • Several tenants met with local attorney Sean Shaw to discuss the possibility of seeking damages from Cambridge Management

  • Shaw told Spectrum Bay News 9 he is in the beginning stages of investigating claims by some residents who say they have gotten sick from mold growing in their units

  • PREVIOUS: Silver Oaks residents struggle with black mold

Several tenants met with local attorney Sean Shaw to discuss the possibility of seeking damages from Cambridge Management. 

Shaw told Spectrum Bay News 9 he is in the beginning stages of investigating claims by some residents who say they have gotten sick from mold growing in their units. 

Denise Dacus is a single mother who says she is on disability. She says her pre-existing health conditions have gotten worse since she moved to Silver Oaks four years ago. 

"A week ago I was in I.C.U," said Dacus, who is dealing with issues like Neuropathy, diabetes and high blood pressure. 

"Mold and the mildew is not helping the problem; doctors already told me that," she added. 

Dacus says the issues in her apartment began with a leak in her bathroom. She says management came out to address the issue, but it was never fixed. 

"They just cover it up and spray paint it," she said. Mold keeps growing back. "It's all in my bathroom."

Dacus is on a fixed income and is struggling to find other affordable housing. 

"I spent money on hotel rooms and things like that to where I'm officially broke," she added. 

She also lost her storage unit because she could not afford to pay. Several of her family's possessions including kids toys because mold had grown on them. 

She's fighting for a better quality of life for her family. 

"I wanted help out of here to where I can be comfortable, and my kids can be comfortable, and my life [doesn't] have to be deteriorating, or my kids second guessing what day am I going to die in this apartment, 'cause basically, that's what the doctors are telling me," she said.