Woman who subpoenaed inspectors at Department of Code and Regulations takes on landlord in court

Tanyqua Oliver was in court Thursday for her emergency hearing as she tries to get the mold and moisture situation resolved in her home without retaliation.
Published: Oct. 19, 2023 at 7:22 PM EDT
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Louisville woman taking on her landlord and the Department of Codes and Regulations was in court Thursday for her emergency hearing.

Tanyqua Oliver recorded and posted a video of her serving subpoenas to inspectors at Codes and Regulations to talk about the mold and moisture in her home making her sick.

The hearing left Oliver feeling positive about the future and her health as the judge ruled in her favor.

Tanyqua Oliver was in court Thursday after filing an emergency hearing for a restraining order against her landlord BTI LLC.

Oliver says the mold in her home is making her asthma and vocal cord dysfunction worse after she claims BTI LLC didn’t resolve the issue.

She says she hasn’t paid rent the last few months because of the conditions at home but is more than willing if the corrections are made.

The judge agreed, ruling she pays her $1,800 a month rent to the court until BTI LLC resolves this issue.

“I feel good. I feel like the judge made a really good decision,” Oliver said. “Because I’ve been trying to get my rent into court but I haven’t been able to pay it into escrow because they won’t take it unless the landlord files an eviction first and I really would like the courthouse to change that.”

Judge Tracy Davis also ruled in favor of Oliver’s subpoenas for the inspectors at the Department of Codes and Regulations to talk about their findings at the home after the inspectors ruled to quash the subpoenas for lack of relevancy to the case.

“I’m happy that they’ll be able to continue to follow up and be able to testify to the actually conditions of the home and hopefully they’ll be honest,” shared Oliver.

But the ruling didn’t go without some tense moments.

Oliver can be seen going back and forth with a field inspector from Code and Regulations as they were leaving the courtroom as they disagreed on how reports have been made.

It’s a beef that started a few days prior after she shared video of her serving subpoenas to the inspectors.

But now that the subpoenas are approved and the judge is calling on BTI LLC to take action, Oliver feels justice will soon be in her favor.

“Well I knew no matter what that the truth would prevail and I didn’t think that God would put me through something that he didn’t think I could make it through,” Oliver said.

The judge asked that BTI LLC sends someone to her home to test the mold and fix the problem by their next court date on November 16th.

If the changes are made, then the landlords will get the rent she is paying to the court, but if they don’t, then Oliver will get her money back.

WAVE News attempted to talk Oliver’s landlords after the hearing but they didn’t have a comment. They did say they will be filing a motion within the next week and will share it with us.

We have yet to hear back from the Department of Codes and Regulations.