CHARLOTTE, NC -- Imagine living in a home where walls and furniture are covered with a film of black mold. One family in Charlotte said they have been trapped by mold for seven months.

They're upset and said their apartment management is holding them to their lease on an unhealthy apartment.

Denise and Walter Russell and their four children moved into an apartment in southwest Charlotte last August. By November, they said mold was taking over the place.

“At first we couldn't see the mold when it first started. It grows behind things,” Russell said.

The mold is inside furniture. Many pieces have been taken out of the apartment. The mold is on walls, baseboards, inside window sills.

Russell complained to the manager at the Landings of Steele Creek Apartments. A maintenance man was sent to wipe down the walls with bleach, prime and repaint.

But the family is concerned about what those chemicals could do to their health. So Russell stopped them.

"I said my children are here, no consideration for us, so I stopped,” he said.

Russell said he asked the manager to move them out and hire professionals to get rid of the mold. But he got no answer. In the meantime, Russell's wife Denise said the kids are getting skins rashes, she thinks from the mold.

"When we took him to the doctor she said it was some kind of fungal reaction,” she said. “They said the only thing I could do was get them out of the environment to stop the reactions.”

They want to move out, but can't get out of their lease with the Landings.

Action 9 tried to talk to management on camera and they refused. But in a letter they said they've made several attempts to inspect and address issues inside the Russell's apartment, but were denied access. They insist their apartments are up to code and are clean, safe and healthy to live in. The Russells beg to differ and plan to get out even if it means breaking their lease.