I bought a bad house..many MANY problems...can i get money back from the original seller?

I just bought a house about 6 months ago...when i bought the house the original owner said that everything was in working order and the problems that the inspector found were fixed (mold in the wall and a problem with the draining in the downstairs bathtub. In renovating the room with the mold, we had electric problems, which then led up to opening the wall to find the whole room was filled with mold. The bathroom tub doesnt drain at all and has a leaky faucet. We just had a plumber in today and said the only was to resolve the problem is to rip apart the entire bathroom to get to the pipes....this mean MORE money....now, both of these problems the original owner said she had fixed, now to find out that they are even worse than they seemed. Is there any way (through court or any way) to get money from her to fix the problems that she had stated to have corrected? Only serious answers please.

Did you buy this house without a buyer's Realtor involved? Was the house sold "as-is" and the repairs agreed upon verbally between the buyer & seller in order to make the sale? Was there a seller's disclosure report submitted to you?

If the house inspector found problems, and the seller said the problems were fixed.....were the repairs actually re-inspected by the House Inspector? If so, did you get another Inspection Report from the inspector stating that the repairs were satisfactorily repaired? Was there a State clearance certificate for mold remediation supplied to you before closing? Mold is a serious problem because mold can cause severe health problems. Mold remediation involves an initial inspection by a hygienist to determine the levels and types of mold(s) found and then specialists are called in to remove the mold. The whole mold remediation process takes about a week's worth of work from start to finish. After the mold is removed, a follow up inspection is performed by a hygienist to determine if there are any residual traces of mold and whether the mold was removed to environmental standards. Then a State certificate is issued. Were satisfactory receipts submitted before closing that the bathroom tub drain problem was repaired?

If you were not shown proof that the mold and the drain problems were corrected using legal standards (especially for the mold) before closing, you need to contact your Realtor agent and the agency's Broker with your complaint. Based on what their attitude is or whether or not they make an effort to help you--which they are responsible to do, by law--I would also contact a Real Estate attorney. You can usually get a free 1/2 hour consultation to see if you have a case and whether you actually need an attorney for this situation. Also contact HUD/FHA to find out what other legal procedures are available to you for this type of situation. Did you pay for the House Inspector? Whether you did pay or not, I would contact the House Inspector because they are required to re-inspect and report their findings. I wouldn't contact your Lender just yet.....follow the attorney's instructions on that one. However, the Lender will sometimes get involved because these unsettled repairs cause depreciation of the house and they approved the loan based on the facts that the house was repaired.

I do believe you will justifiably be compensated. However, make sure you keep every receipt and get a report (even if it costs you a couple of dollars) from the plumber that wants to resolve the problem by ripping the bathroom up to get to the pipes. In the meantime, get at least 2 more licensed plumbers to come in and assess the problem and get an estimate from each of them (written) detailing their findings and what type of work will be required to make the complete repairs and the cost of the repairs. Collect this information ASAP because if you find that you need an attorney, he is going to want to see this type of documentation.

Hang in there and stay tough....you have a lot of legal rights in this situation, but you will need to access them to open up this case.

It's probably going to be hard to prove the seller knew there was mold behind the walls ... you might have better recourse with the inspector.

A Seller is required to disclose only those material defects of which the Seller is aware. The contract probably required the Seller to deliver possession of the home to you, with everything in working condition AT THE TIME OF CLOSING and not after. There may be a case for Fraud against the Seller, if the Seller failed to disclosed material defects of which the Seller knew about, or if the Seller mislead you into believing the defects found by the Inspector were fixed. You may also have a case against the Inspector, if the Inspector failed to reveal defects to you that professional Inspectors in your area are expected to discover or notice.

That said, go to a local real estate litigating attorney with these problems and guaranteed, if the attorney can make something out of this, he/she will do so. You could also employ the attorney on a "continent fee basis", whereby you would pay the attorney's out-of-pocket costs but pay the attorney's fees only if you win the case.

Nothing you learn here on the internet is going to help you with this problem, because we are not going to litigate this for you. You must ACTUALLY persuade an attorney to take your case.

It all depends on what was on the disclosure report. You should talk to your realtor.

Your inspector is obviously not very good at his job.

I doubt you can get the money back as it was your decision to buy the house. That is one of the biggest investments you are ever likely to make and the onus is on you to make sure you are completely happy with the property before you purchase.

I reckon you are going to have to chalk this one up to experience.

You won't get a good answer here. You need a lawyer. You may have a case against the seller, the realtor, and the inspector. However, because 6 months have passed, their defense might be that you waited too long and the mold spread beyond what it was when you bought the house. It may not be possible for them to defend against the other defects.

Consulting an attorney is your best recourse.

I'm not sure, but if you had a mold remediation company do the ripping out of the mold and in particular any mold tests then you might have a claim with them. If the seller had problems fixed and now they are popping up you probably have the better shot at going after the people who did the work.

Nope, and I'll tell you why.

Once the inspection report revealed that there was mold, and once the owner claimed she had fixed the items, your Realtor should have advised you to send the inspector BACK OUT to the property, well in advance of the closing, to inspect ALL of the areas that were agreed upon to be fixed, to make sure that they were.

That was an opportunity that was afforded to you, and obviously you passed it up.

Also, if you read carefully through your inspection report, the inspection CLEARLY STATES that it DOES NOT COVER hidden defects, which is behind walls, or ANY area that can not be readily observed with the naked eye.

The owner is NOT RESPONSIBLE for hidden defects behind a wall....if YOUR inspector didn't know how extensive the mold problem was until walls were ripped out, then how can you expect the owner to?

The owner isn't, and that is why you won't have a legal recourse.

As a Realtor, I highly advise clients when mold is found to have a mold test done, and then think very, very carefully about their buying decision. Not all mold problems are correctable in every house. In my career, I have seen 3 houses that had black mold so extensive, that they were ordered to be 100% demolished.

A court will ask you all of these questions...in order to claim damages, you must also prove that you did EVERYTHING that was humanly possible, resources that you could have used, in purchasing.

When you said, "In renovating the bathroom with the mold..." that is where your case ends...b/c it wasn't discovered until AFTER you RIPPED OUT THE WALLS.

If you didn't have a Realtor to represent you, now you know why you should have had one.

You have a case. Call a lawyer and file a lawsuit.

If there was a bad inspector that's not your fault. Clearly the problems were not fixed properly.

Yes; you have a valid legal claim--against both the former owner and the real estate agent.

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