A woman says black mold in her apartment's air conditioning unit left her suffering from "burning" skin - and left her forking out $10k to move and replace her things. "

Autumn Clayman, 29, started suffering from a burning sensation around her face and began to see red marks appear on her skin shortly after moving into her new apartment in Los Angeles, California, in February 2024.

Unable to sleep properly, she then started developing eczema on the affected red areas and her allergies were flaring up.

Unsure of what was causing this sudden change, Autumn cut out certain foods to see if things improved but they didn't.

By June of this year, Autumn's flare ups got worse and she was sure it was something in her apartment.

She stayed at her boyfriend's for two weeks - during which time her symptoms began to ease.

Feeling confident it was her apartment that was causing her problems, Autumn paid $780 for testing.

Results showed she had black mold in both of her air conditioning units - which had been blasting cold air throughout the apartment.

Her landlord apologised and performed two deep cleans of the apartment before Autumn moved back in but she says her symptoms started again within days.

She was eventually able to get out of her lease and moved into a new apartment in September.

She estimates she spent $10k replacing contaminated furniture and clothes, on medical appointments for her skin and mold tests.

Autumn, who runs a consulting business, from Orange County, California, US, said: "For six months I felt like I was living in fight or flight. "

"My gut told me there was a deeper issue going on."

"I couldn't sleep at night because my skin was so itchy. "

"Not only are you dealing with your skin - your whole body burns and it really affects you."

"I had a burning sensation that started on my face, eyes and neck, followed by visible red patches."

"Then the eczema started on those areas and throughout my skin"

"My allergies flared up and I had burning, itchy eyes."

"I had fatigue and more depressive episodes too."

Autumn moved into the apartment in February but says she began noticing symptoms after just a few weeks.

She said: "There's a big mold issue in LA and apartments are old. "

"I moved in and around April I started experiencing symptoms."

"I wasn't 100 per cent sure if it was the apartment so I ran through all the scenarios."

"I cut out a bunch of foods to see if it would change things but it didn't help."

At the end of July Autumn paid for a mold inspector to come out after a short stay at her boyfriend's cleared some of her symptoms.

She said: "He came out and he said he could tell there was mold present. "

"They checked the AC units and there was visible mold inside of them."

"The AC was always blasting so no wonder I would feel so congested when I would wake up. "

"After a swab test, it came back as black mold."

While work began to remedy the issue, Autumn had multiple doctor's appointments for her eczema - and she is currently waiting to see a dermatologist for her skin.

She said: "They cleaned the AC units."

"I moved back in in August and by the next day, my symptoms had come back."

"It wasn't safe for me to live there anymore - it was affecting me physically, mentally, and in my work."

"They decided to let me out of the lease and I moved out a few days later."

Because of the constant spread of mold spores thanks to the AC unit, Autumn was forced to replace most of her furniture.

She said: "I had to get rid of dining tables, chairs, consoles, the dresser, fabrics, rugs - anything that was porous."

"With the financial loss and throwing stuff out, I've spent $10,000 so far - that doesn't account all the furniture I've had to rebuy."

"It's been great in the new apartment. I feel like I can focus on healing and taking care of my body."