Black stuff on the wall where it meets the ceiling, every room!! any ideas?

Ok so I moved into this apartment in Feb. 07(brand new, renovated in 8/06) and as the months go by my walls (wall meets ceiling, edge) are developing black stuff. HELP its driving me nuts. Its in every room all along the edge I can wipe it down with cleaner but I would like to know what is causing it & an easier way to clean it besides a sponge & 409.

Funny you should ask (burning candles) well I do! I am a candle freak I love them. My husband is insisting that it is the candles I assured him it wasnt and that it was most likley mold & since we happen to be the "landlords" that he should get to cleaning it all up. lol. I did tell the owner & he did send someone up tp take a look in the attic they said it looked good. So you really think its the "candles"? It is dusty looking when I wipe it down. Thanks everyone for the information!!

yep it is mold for sure. they built it poorly. contact your building manager/owner and let him know your getting mold really bad where the walls meet the ceilings!

Just a stab at this.Do you burn a lot of candle's If you do it could be the soot put off by the burning wax?

Typically mold requires moisture, and since it is growing all along just the tops of the walls you have a insulation problem.
what is happening is the moisture in the air is condensing on the coolest part of the walls, which means that the area above the walls is cooler. Have the maintenance people check for poor insulation or leaking air conditioner ducting in the space above the ceiling. Until you remove the cause you will just have to keep on cleaning up the results. You might try spraying the areas with white vinegar to change the PH of that surface. It might be enough to inhibit the regrowth of the mold.

good luck

Sounds like mold. House may need ventilation. Bleach will kill it, dont use on colored walls. I would show the landlord.

I would get someone VERY knowledgable to determine the cause...sounds as the others have said that it's mould...if its just on the surface (unlikely)then a good washing with a bleach solution should work however I would suspect that there is either a water infiltration problem,a pipe leaking or major insulation and air infiltration(in cold climates)problems.IF there are problems like these then the mould is in