Who is Mold Girl on TikTok? Woman’s horrifying apartment issues go viral

Virginia Glaze

A Nevada woman’s battle with her landlord over mold in her apartment is taking TikTok by storm, leaving viewers horrified and concerned for her health.

In December 2021, TikTok user ‘tallgurl’ (real name Elena Stetenevoic) posted a full-scale epic tale to the video platform detailing her issues with her landlord.

According to the TikToker, she and her roommates were constantly suffering from fevers, headaches, and other symptoms consistent with mold exposure.

She ordered a mold test kit from Amazon and decided to swab a vent in the home that was rife with mold. Once the sample started growing, she alerted her landlord of the situation — but it seems they didn’t agree with her findings.

TikToker mold girl instagram
Biology major Elena Stetenevoic is going viral for her ongoing feud with her landlord over mold in her apartment.

Instead, they replaced the vent and sprayed it with Lysol to “kill” the mold.

It took a doctor’s note to order a mold inspection of the place, which the landlord was happy to pay for… on the condition that it was, in fact, mold. If not, the tenants would be “liable for the fees.”

Elena posted a few more updates, claiming that a mold inspector had come to look at the house, who ultimately didn’t seem too concerned about the issue.

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The results came up as passable in the inspector’s tests, leaving her and her roommates responsible for the costs.

“They did detect mold spores in the air, but they were not in a quantity that was too high for us to breathe in, basically,” Elena explained.

In another update, Elena claimed that she’d been contacted by several other people claiming to be tenants under her landlord within the same neighborhood, who also said they had similar experiences with health issues in their homes.

Woman goes viral over mold in her apartment

It was after this update that Elena began to lean into the nickname ‘mold girl,’ which the internet had given her after becoming invested in her tale of moldy woe.

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Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like much has changed for TikTok’s resident ‘mold girl.’

On February 3, she posted an update to the situation after being featured on Snapchat Discover.

“To be honest, not much has changed,” she revealed. “We still have mold, our landlord still doesn’t care, we still can’t afford lawyers, we still don’t know our rights.”

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That isn’t stopping commenters from giving her frequent advice — especially after an independent lab claimed she was living with three different species of mold, including penicillin, which can “trigger allergic reactions.”

Elena’s initial viral video has amassed over 9 million views at the time of writing.

Hers isn’t the only story to go viral on TikTok with real-world implications, though; for more viral stories like these, check out the TikTokers who went viral after fans couldn’t decide if they were actually related or not.

About The Author

Virginia is Dexerto's Entertainment Editor and an expert in all things TikTok, YouTube, and influencer-related. Boasting a background in esports, she's been tackling the social media space for over five years. You can reach Virginia at: virginia.glaze@dexerto.com.