Hi,

   My situation is a bit long, I will try to keep it on the shorter side of long :)  I am 28 and lived in Florida from 14, had no allergy symptoms I was really aware of that were that bad. I moved to Atlanta Georgia area in October until the end of December and had no allergy problems. The end of December we moved back to Florida but to a different city about 15 minutes away from where I lived before. When we moved back the first house we rented was over the internet and when we drove back to Florida we walked in the house and it smelled horrible, I was convinced we smelled mold and since I have a three year old and my sister is 12 and my mother has diabetes we decided that the home was not safe to sleep in and went to a hotel. When we saw house in daylight, we noticed what looked like mold on ceiling by air vents. The landlord said it was just dirt (that they painted over?) and we had to hire a mold inspector to get out of the lease, because it came back in the report that it was indeed mold. The hotel was about 120 a night and we needed a new place to rent, found a great home for a great price didn't see any mold or notice smells. When we moved in about a week ago I started noticing a very musty smell centered in the garage and also from the larger air vents. I have inspected the house and since all walls and seemingly ceilings were painted as far as I know I see no evidence of mold. The problem is since about day one I have had itchy throat, itchy eyes, itchy nose that have gotten progressivley worse where I wake up many times during the night to itch, where my throat is unbearable at times and I have slight headaches and sore throat with harsh cough. My questions are these : Is it possible that there could be a mold source that is big enough to create these problems that could also be hidden and where would it be hidden? Is it just the area, could 15 or so miles create such a drastic difference? Could it be from the carpets that the previous owners had because they smoked ( I know they smoked we found cigrette butts inside window sill) or possibly from pets they owned? Is it from the outdoors, in which case could it be reaching me inside with such severity if I was indoors for a couple of days? I am at a loss, we don't want to move again we are tired from the last ordeal but I don't want to suffer or any one else to start showing symptoms especially my three year old. If my three year old is not showing any symptoms could he still be badly affected i.e. damage his lungs while he is growing? Thank you for your time and help, I appreciate it.