Tony Messenger | Post-Dispatch

Metro columnist

FENTON — When Kezia and Zach Birlew welcome you to their mobile home, it comes with a bit of a warning: tread lightly.

The reason is obvious when you step through the front door, which is hanging slightly askew. Growing out of a crevice in the corner is a mushroom of some sort, like the kind you see in your yard after several days of rain.

It had been dry in the St. Louis region when I visited the Birlews, but their front stoop was soft and wet. As they lifted up the flooring inside their home, by the front door, the stench of mold and mildew rose.

They live in Chancellor Farms in unincorporated Jefferson County. They moved to the complex 2017. It was their first home together, the place they raised their combined family — she had three k

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