A strange black substance that has overtaken a Werribee house has its tenant and a real estate agency searching for answers.
Patricia Margetts has lived in the rental property for the past three years but has recently been issued with a notice to vacate after the property became filled with an unknown “pollutant”.
The walls and ceiling of the house are covered by the dark substance and many of Ms Margetts’ personal items are heavily coated in it.
Ms Margetts has since moved into a motel and claims the property is unsafe to live in.
“For me, three years of this has just been shocking,” Ms Margetts said. “It has been just horrific on my health. I’ve been in such a crisis with the physical state I’m in.”
Ms Margetts said she had suffered respiratory problems and migraines after living with what she calls pollution.
“I need to know what it is that’s been poisoning me for the past three years,” she said.
While Ms Margetts claims she notified the manager of the property, First National Westwood, of “discoloration” in the walls when she first moved in, she failed to report the worsening black patches to them.
The agency became aware of the black substance when the agency did a property inspection on July 9.
First National Westwood director Bob Westwood said he was confident that neither his company nor the landlord was responsible for the state of the house.
“We take all issues such as this very, very seriously and they are dealt with immediately,” Mr Westwood said.
“It is not as if the tenant had been reporting the issue to us and we hadn’t been doing anything about it. This matter was never detected by the tenant – it was detected by the property manager on the ninth of July.”
Mr Westwood said a number of different tradespeople, including a mould specialist, had inspected the property and none of them could identify the substance.
An occupational hygienist has since been called in to take a sample for testing.
“We are quite confident this has nothing to do with the landlord or the building,” Mr Westwood said.
“At the moment we are unsure, but we think it could be from burning candles or dust from charcoal.”
Ms Margetts has been issued with a notice to vacate the property by October 7.
According to Consumer Affairs Victoria, the real estate agency is not required to find her alternative accommodation as “there is no evidence of the cause”.
Ms Margetts said she would approach the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in an attempt seek financial compensation.
