Discovered Black Mold

#1
H

Hayezb

Vols to the Wall
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
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#1
For all the legal experts out there I have a question for you..

Last July me and my wife bought our first house. Everything was going great until yesterday I noticed some black powder on the floor trim under the window in my 18 month olds room. Turns out it's black mold.

If the previous owner of the house knew about the mold and did not say anything to us is he responsible?

He signed off on the disclosure that there was no mold in the house that he knew of.

However, I spoke with my neighbor this morning when checking my mail and he said that the owner did know about the mold because he had him come look at it.
 
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#2
#2
Hayezb said:
For all the legal experts out there I have a question for you..

Last July me and my wife bought our first house. Everything was going great until yesterday I noticed some black powder on the floor trim under the window in my 18 month olds room. Turns out it's black mold.

If the previous owner of the house knew about the mold and did not say anything to us is he responsible?

He signed off on the disclosure that there was no mold in the house that he knew of.

However, I spoke with my neighbor this morning when checking my mail and he said that the owner did know about the mold because he had him come look at it.
Click to expand...

Did you have a home inspection prior to closing? If so, the inspector should've caught that when inspecting the windows.

regardless...i'd get a mold remediation contractor on it immediately.
 
#3
#3
Hayezb said:
For all the legal experts out there I have a question for you..

Last July me and my wife bought our first house. Everything was going great until yesterday I noticed some black powder on the floor trim under the window in my 18 month olds room. Turns out it's black mold.

If the previous owner of the house knew about the mold and did not say anything to us is he responsible?

He signed off on the disclosure that there was no mold in the house that he knew of.

However, I spoke with my neighbor this morning when checking my mail and he said that the owner did know about the mold because he had him come look at it.
Click to expand...

It's almost impossible to go back on the previous owner for things like that. About a month into our second house I'm pulling wall paper off around the bay window of the dinning room and drywall is crumbling with it. Whole bay window area was eaten up with termites, closer inspection showed the baseboards and window were pretty much wood puddy and paint covering up the termite damage.

Even though someone puddied and painted over the damage the previous owner said he knew nothing of it and was off scott free. Ended up filing a claim with the company that did the termite inspection and they had to pony up for the damage.
 
#4
#4
Good luck proving that "he knew about it" if it isn't documented anywhere and your source is a third party neighbor.
 
#6
#6
Obsessed said:
This should fall back on the inspector. There is a reason they have insurance.
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That's about his only recourse but being that it's almost been a year I doubt he has any luck with that.
 
#7
#7
Obsessed said:
This should fall back on the inspector. There is a reason they have insurance.
Click to expand...

Wait, they bought the house last summer and just noticed the mold roughly 9 months later. Is it reasonable for an inspector to catch that if it wasn't that obvious?
 
#8
#8
how do you know it is black mold ? I'm asking because I've noticed some black looking powder next to the wall under a window and there is either water damage or maybe termites under it

I need to pull up the carpet there and see what is going on and how do you get rid of it ? if that is what it is
 
#9
#9
Not all mold that is black is actually "black mold". The only way to know for sure is to have a mold expert look at it under a microscope to identify it. It could just be mold from a bad window seal. The good thing is that it's probably just under that window.
 
#12
#12
governmentmule said:
what would it cost to get it checked out ? and who would one contact
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Cheapest way to go is to buy a mold test kit at Walmart. The price on the kit is ONLY the price for the test itself and not the results. You pay something around an additional $10 for each sample you take.

This is apparently a lot less expensive than having someone come into your home and test it for you.
 
#18
#18
All that is black and fungal is not mold.

You need to have it tested. The Walmart test is a cheap first step, but if it comes back negative, will you trust it?

Every house has mold spores inside...just as there are mold spores outside. For this reason, I have been told that swabbing is a frequent tool of mold scammers. The preferred method is air sampling. They take a sample outside for a baseline reading of mold spores in the air, then take inside samples. The samples are sent to a lab for testing. The lab identifies the species found and compares indoor spore counts to outdoor ones.

There are horse's asses that charge $600-$1,200 for this type of testing. I know a guy in Chattanooga that will do it for $250 or so. He also charges about half of what the big boys do for mitigation if needed...and he's EPA certified. He's in Nashville fairly often too, so unless you are in West TN, I could probably connect y'all if you wish.
 
#19
#19
VolMax said:
I know a guy in Chattanooga that will do it for $250 or so. He also charges about half of what the big boys do for mitigation if needed...and he's EPA certified. He's in Nashville fairly often too, so unless you are in West TN, I could probably connect y'all if you wish.
Click to expand...

Volmax: Would you mind posting the individuals contact info if he is OK with that? I was going to PM you, but the PM feature is currently disabled. Thank you, Tim
 
#20
#20
LVvol said:
Volmax: Would you mind posting the individuals contact info if he is OK with that? I was going to PM you, but the PM feature is currently disabled. Thank you, Tim
Click to expand...

Two things:

1. Have you been away from VN for that long? PM hasn't been an option for the two years I have been here.
2. Is that Falling Water as your location Pennsylvania, and/or are you a Frank Lloyd Wright fan?
 
#21
#21
Obsessed said:
The spores can live for years.....
Click to expand...

Oh, I understand that.

I'm just saying that if people were living in a house for 9 months and didn't notice it until now, is it unreasonable to expect an inspector to have noticed it in a one or two hour walk through during an inspection?
 
#23
#23
LouderVol said:
Two things:

1. Have you been away from VN for that long? PM hasn't been an option for the two years I have been here.
2. Is that Falling Water as your location Pennsylvania, and/or are you a Frank Lloyd Wright fan?
Click to expand...

1. That's FUNNY!
2. Falling Water? I'm in Apison, we're practically neighbors!

Hayezb, text me @ 423-320-2995. I don't mind putting my number on here...not sure he'd want me to post his.
 
#24
#24
VolMax said:
1. That's FUNNY!
2. Falling Water? I'm in Apison, we're practically neighbors!

Hayezb, text me @ 423-320-2995. I don't mind putting my number on here...not sure he'd want me to post his.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply.
 
#25
#25
LouderVol said:
Two things:

1. Have you been away from VN for that long? PM hasn't been an option for the two years I have been here.
2. Is that Falling Water as your location Pennsylvania, and/or are you a Frank Lloyd Wright fan?
Click to expand...

1) OK...First time I had tried to send a PM on this forum and discovered the function is disabled. Normally, I would never ask someone to post telephone number/contact information in an open forum.

2) Tennessee. Yes, I do enjoy Frank Lloyd Wright's work.
 
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