5/31/08

Heartland, NE - A woman has concerns for the health of her family. She believes the house she lives in has mold growing in the furnace.

Briauna al-Muhaimin gets a whiff of it every time she turns the furnace on and she believes that the leaking foundation of the house she rents is causing a health problem.

Briauna is on Section 8 housing, has two young children and is seven months pregnant.

She showed us a furnace filter which appears to have a lot of water running through it. A maintenance man checked for the problem.

"He told me that it's mold," Briauna said. "He said that he'd see that mold is growing inside this brand new furnace from the foundation leaking and it's sucking it up when I turn on my air conditioner or heat. I've been wondering why we've been getting sick since we've been living in this house."

An Omaha Housing Authority inspector agreed that there is a potential problem.

The out-of-town owner has 30 days to make repairs but the local management company can't fix the problem without the owner's consent.

Briauana wants something done.

"It's like I'm stuck in hell," she said.

The property management representative tells Six on Your Side they will fix the problem but the owner has yet to be contacted. The owner will lose Section 8 funding if repairs are not made.

Briauana says she wants the Omaha Housing Authority to move her to another home.