BURGAW, N.C. (WECT) – The situation for some living at Seven Oaks Apartments in Burgaw can only be described as a living nightmare.

“We have lost everything. There’s nothing we can take with us,” Grace Morton, who lived at Seven Oaks, said.

Breona Johnson and Grace Morton live across the hall from each other.

Both have been told to leave with their young children due to black mold found in their apartments; they’re told it’s due to a plumbing issue.

“It seemed like everything was stripped from me,” Johnson agreed.

Reports from Coastal Environmental and Inspections, LLC, from July and August show significantly elevated levels of mold in some units of the Section 8 Housing complex. Unfortunately, that’s nothing new.

WECT obtained emails dating back to 2022 from Seven Oaks’ previous property manager noting “black-like substances reappearing in two apartments.”

That former property manager is now the current Pender County Housing Director, Sue Sava.

The company that runs the property, Excel Property Management, is also dropping Seven Oaks, putting neighbors in limbo as to who will fix the problem, one that has been allowed to linger for at least two years.

Johnson says it feels like a slap in the face.

“They just decided to cover it up and patch it up instead of actually fixing the problem,” Johnson said.

Fearing for the health of their kids and themselves, both women just want answers.

“That’s one thing I don’t want to happen, is for it to prolong and, you know, make my son sick, make me sick,” Johnson continued.

“They need to be held accountable for it. They need to find places for these women to go. My heart aches for other women who have children and don’t have a place to go that live here now,” Morton said.

The pair said all they can do now is hope and pray that somebody takes some sort of accountability to help them get out of what they call a terrible situation.

Both Excel Property Management and the Pender County Housing Director Sue Sava have yet to respond to WECT to comment about the mold.

Copyright 2024 WECT. All rights reserved.