STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. — A Stockbridge man says he has been hospitalized multiple times after being exposed to fungi inside his apartment, forcing him and his girlfriend to move into an Airbnb while continuing to pay rent. He is now calling on the property management company to do more.
Tamar Clarke says problems with what he believes is mold inside his unit at Southwinds Point Apartments began in August.
“I was hospitalized over nine times,” Clarke said.
He told Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers the issue started in the bathroom. He believes there was a leak in the upstairs unit that then spread throughout the apartment.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
His girlfriend, Lisa Voltaire, said they first contacted management after noticing mold in the unit.
“The bathtub had mold in it, so we put a work order in,” Voltaire said.
The couple says maintenance came out, but their health issues continued. They eventually hired their own mold tester, who identified multiple types of mold in the apartment.
“It said it was six different variants of the mold, with black mold being the biggest issue,” Clarke said. “It was located in the kitchen, the bathroom area, and the AC unit.”
Earlier this month, the couple posted a TikTok video that went viral with nearly 4 million views, showing them at the hospital. Clarke said that the overnight stay was his breaking point.
Rogers repeatedly tried to contact the property management company, Pegasus Residential, by phone and email over several weeks and even stopped by in person, but did not receive a response.
“It’s been horrible. It’s traumatizing,” Voltaire said.
The couple says they moved out earlier this month and into an Airbnb because they do not feel safe returning to the apartment. They say they are still paying rent on the unit.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Postal worker arrested on her route for mail theft. What she told USPS agents
- Dad killed checking on daughter at Bojangles where she worked. Her manager is now in jail
- Body found identified as Cobb man who vanished from skate park
“I don’t think you should be in your own apartment with a mask on, especially when you’re paying thousands of dollars,” Clarke said.
When the couple returned to the apartment for the first time Wednesday, Clarke says they found a letter from the management company’s attorney stating that all issues had been fixed. However, Clarke says he still sees ongoing problems inside the unit like a broken smoke alarm. Clarke said he contacted Henry County Code Enforcement.
Clarke also showed Rogers a nearly $3,500 bill from his most recent hospital stay. He says he wants the property management company to reimburse them for the bills they’ve accumulated during this situation.
“The hospital bills, the prescriptions, having to get an Airbnb out of our own pocket, it really kind of set us all the way back,” Voltaire said. “We literally had to uproot our lives and start all the way over. We had to throw out all of our furniture, all of our clothes.”
Channel 2 Action News reached out to Pegasus Residential for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
