HOUSTON \u2013 Nearly every day, KPRC 2 is flooded with emails and phone calls from viewers who say their health and quality of life are being destroyed by black mold. It\u2019s a nightmare that KPRC 2 producer and multi-skilled journalist Paige Hubbard knows all too well. She\u2019s now sharing her story after she says she was poisoned by toxic black mold while living in Austin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt nearly destroyed me. I was in and out of the hospital, my body was falling apart on the inside despite my outer appearance showing something different,\u201d Hubbard said.<\/p>\n
It started in the winter of 2021. At that point in Paige\u2019s career, she was a full-time reporter, on air every day. She had just accepted a job at CBS Austin (KEYE) as a general assignment reporter and was ready to conquer a new chapter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember being so excited. After working in a small town like Beaumont for two years, I was ready for the next level in my career,\u201d Hubbard said.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Paige\u2019s very first story in Austin was about residents demanding safer living conditions after claiming they were being forced to live in uninhabitable apartments. Some units had missing walls and half-finished repairs, but the most alarming complaints came from families who said they were being poisoned by black mold.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne woman\u2019s family was severely ill. Her daughter was in and out of the hospital and had to be put on a breathing machine. She knew it was the mold but told me she felt so helpless because she couldn\u2019t afford to go anywhere else,\u201d Hubbard said.<\/p>\n
Months later, Paige found herself living that same story. She started making frequent trips to the ER and urgent care. Before moving to Austin, she had a clean bill of health and no underlying issues. Suddenly, she was constantly sick and no one could tell her why.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first I thought it was just allergies and that my body needed to get acclimated to the Austin cedar, but a friend pointed out a moldy patch above my shower that gave him pause,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Doctor after doctor told Paige it was just an upper respiratory infection. Tests came back normal. But there was one clue they couldn\u2019t explain: every time she left Austin and went home on the weekends, she felt fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then thought back to that first story I covered in Austin, remembering the symptoms residents told me they had from living with black mold. I realized I too had those same symptoms,\u201d Paige said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it clicked: it wasn\u2019t her body; it was her apartment. Paige began demanding that property management investigate. For months, she says she was brushed off and told nothing was wrong, forced to keep living in a place she believed was making her sicker by the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a bubbly person but began feeling depressed and not myself. I was always sick, I had constant headaches, and the brain fog was terrible, yet I still had no clue what was wrong with me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Soon, the signs became impossible to ignore. Mold even started growing on Paige\u2019s dishes. No longer feeling safe in the very place that was supposed to be her sanctuary, she started sleeping on her friend Bruna\u2019s couch and staying in hotels all while still paying rent on the apartment she believed was poisoning her.<\/p>\n
Mold (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n
Desperate for answers, she bought a home mold test kit, which detected elevated mold levels in her unit. But her apartment complex rejected the results.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me since it was a test I had gotten from Home Depot they could not find the results viable because they were not certified,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
So, Paige did what many tenants can\u2019t afford to do, she spent $500 on a certified mold inspection. The results showed more than a million toxic mold spores of Stachybotrys mold in her unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat made me storm into my property manager\u2019s office and tell them if they didn\u2019t look into the matter after what the test results found, they were going to have a bigger legal issue on their hands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After months of insisting nothing was wrong, the complex finally sent someone to inspect her apartment. When they opened her HVAC system, Paige says she was stunned, it was infested with black mold.<\/p>\n
Mold (KPRC 2)<\/p>\n
Even then, Paige says the complex resisted fully fixing the problem. They sprayed over the mold and removed the sheet rock. Paige knew since mold was airborne, that was just putting a bandied on a bullet wound. That\u2019s when she turned to the courts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to hire a property tenant attorney that legally allowed me to get out of the unit and then I hired a personal injury lawyer to help recover damages,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Once she left the apartment, Paige\u2019s symptoms started to improve almost immediately but the damage wasn\u2019t over. She had to throw the majority of her belongings away, from clothes, to shoes, furniture etc.<\/p>\n
Tests showed the toxic mold was in her body, too. To recover, she needed hyperbaric oxygen therapy, an intensive treatment that came with a staggering price tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to lay in that chamber for almost three months, five days a week. Insurance didn\u2019t cover it, so I had to pay out of pocket \u2014 nearly $2,000 a week,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Nearly three years after she first filed her lawsuit, Paige says she finally received justice in the form of hefty financial settlement. Today, is healed, happy and healthy but she\u2019s also using her experience to advocate for others who feel trapped in mold-infested homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack mold silently impacts so many people and so many suffer without understanding what\u2019s making them ill. What once caused me suffering now gives me purpose to help others recognize the signs, regain their health and believe that healing and restoration are possible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Paige credits her friends, family and colleagues for helping her through what she calls one of the most challenging chapters of her life. She\u2019s now sharing her story and this advice with anyone who suspects mold may be making them sick.<\/p>\n
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU THINK YOU ARE LIVING WITH BLACK MOLD:<\/p>\n
Document everything \u2014 photos, videos, medical records \u2014 and keep all emails and communication with management in writing.<\/p>\n
Know your lease and your legal rights as a tenant before you complain.<\/p>\n
Keep paying rent, even if it feels unfair; withholding payments can hurt your case.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be afraid to stand up for yourself \u2014 and consult a tenant or personal injury attorney if management won\u2019t act.<\/p>\n
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STACHYBOTRYS MOLD:<\/p>\n
Name: Stachybotrys chartarum, often called \u201cblack mold\u201d or \u201ctoxic black mold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Appearance: Usually dark green to black, slimy or wet-looking; often grows in patches.<\/p>\n
Where it grows: On water-damaged materials high in cellulose and low in nitrogen \u2013 drywall, ceiling tiles, wood, paper, carpet backing, insulation. Needs constant moisture (leaks, flooding, condensation).<\/p>\n
Toxins: Can produce mycotoxins (like trichothecenes) that are potentially harmful when people are exposed to spores or fragments over time.<\/p>\n
Health concerns:<\/p>\n
Irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and skin<\/p>\n
Coughing, wheezing, sinus and respiratory symptoms, especially in people with asthma or allergies<\/p>\n
Can worsen asthma and other lung conditions<\/p>\n
Immunocompromised people, young children, and older adults are generally considered at higher risk for more serious effects<\/p>\n
Testing: CDC and EPA don\u2019t recommend routine \u201cblack mold\u201d testing for the public \u2014 they say any indoor mold and moisture problem should be fixed, regardless of species.<\/p>\n
Remediation: Remove and replace heavily contaminated, porous materials; fix leaks and dry the area completely; use proper protective gear and professional remediation for large or extensive growth.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Nearly every day, KPRC 2 is flooded with emails and phone calls from viewers who say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[68895,584,1822,56,58,57,17895],"class_list":["post-170444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-black-mold","tag-health","tag-hospital","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-mold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}