Interesting Mold Case

[Guest guest]

I just received a call from a friend of a friend who is trying to resolve a mold problem and called to see what I thought or if I could be of any help. Case history:

Owner bought the house two years ago from a "bank" who had foreclosed on the property. The foreclosed owners had been renting it out for a number of years. The bank had installed new carpeting on all three levels prior to re-selling the home. New owners (friend of the friend) moved in and shortly thereafter discovered what sounds like a pretty extensive mold contamination issue. To shorten the case info, the master bedroom had a 10-person hot tub in it for 10+ years. The new owner was able to track down the most recent tenants who told about how the water would routinely spill out on the floor and also about the day the entire contents of the hot tub emptied into the MBr and down into the basement. The new owner also got in contact with a real estate agent who was in the property prior to the bank performing repairs and placing the house back on the market. The real estate agent noted significant mold growth, which was not

visible when the unit went back on the market. The first indication that something was amiss was when the new owner installed spongy floors in the basement (for kids to play on) over the wood flooring and the newly installing flooring soon buckled. The new owner has since discovered mold growth behind walls, under carpeting, under the flooring. Its apparent that the bank or their acting agent attempted to cover up the mold growth by installing plastic and new carpeting over the mold growth, new drywall, new flooring, covering up old flooring with new flooring, etc. The new owner has moved his family out of the house due to a variety of health afflictions among family members that he believes is related to the mold problem. He has been ripping out walls and flooring and "discovering mold everywhere".

The bank has offered the new owner his purchase price. New owner wants more $, as the house is in a very, very hot market (homes in this county have appreciated about 25% each year over the last 2-3 years) and also due to the fact that they have not been able to live in the house for most of their ownership period. The bank is now trying to foreclose on the home. The bank's position is that they did not know about the mold problem and that the owner has not proven the cause of the problem.

The owner has asked me if I could help. I have yet to see the house, so I'll update after I get into it next week. There is no question regarding the fact that mold is in the house. The new owner believes that this is a non-disclosure case. The new owner has been in touch with both the real estate agent who saw the home prior to repair and with the former tennants. The owner has had two other IHs in performing environmental sampling. I don't see the need to do anymore, unless the reports are lacking in documentation. He stated that this is now personal.

Any thoughts going it?

__________________________________________________