By: Chris Brubaker

Photo Courtesy of shay coh

Aspergillus, Basidiospores, Chaetomiu, Curvularia, Stachybotrys and Torula. Six words you do not want to hear a home inspector rattle off as he’s going down a list of issues found with your newly purchased home.

This happened to two families in Greenville, South Carolina. When the mold was first discovered, the home was occupied by George Leventis’ family, who’s wife and two young daughters had become seriously ill from living in the mold infested home. The cost of removing the mold was so high the family was forced to flee the home and have the property foreclosed on.

The next family to move in were the Browns, who purchased the home out of foreclosure from the bank. The Browns would soon learn of the dark secret the home was hiding by finding a secret room with a note in it left by the Leventis family. The note read:

“Hello. If you’re reading this, then you found the secret room. I owned this house for a short while and it was discovered to have a serious mold problem. One that actually made my children very sick to the point that we had to move out.”

The Leventis were left with a tough decision; stay in the home and pay for mold removal (of which would cost more than the property is worth), or try to sell the home and move out, right after they had moved in. Both decisions seemed unfair, what would you do?

Well, the Leventis decided to sue Fannie Mae*, Century 21 Flynn & Youngblood, and Realtor Sue Bakx to get their money back from the home, claiming all parties knew about the mold problem and still sold the home without any regard. Sue Bakx’s Lawyer reports that the home was sold “as is” claiming responsibility of the homebuyer to have it inspected thoroughly (the family had the home inspected, but mold checks are not part of a routine inspection).

*Fannie Mae was dropped from the lawsuit after they bought back the home from the Leventis at the same price they paid.

Moral of the Story

Consumers

When looking into a home be sure and have all of your ducks in a row. Be wary of homes sold “as is”, do not let a “good deal” get in the way of a smart buy.

Most real estate professionals follow a code of ethics, the most popular being the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics (seen here: Code of Ethics). Article 2 of this code states:

“A realtor must avoid exaggerations, and must not misrepresent or conceal pertinent facts regarding the property in a transaction. They are not required to discover hidden defects, to disclose confidential facts, or to advise on matters outside the scope of their real estate license.”

But within that same article it states:

“Realtors are obligated to discover and disclose adverse facts about a property which are reasonably apparent to someone with real estate expertise.”

If in fact Century 21 Flynn & Youngblood and Sue Bakx’s knew of the mold infestation, should they have disclosed this problem to the homebuyers, even if they were selling the home as is

For more information on mold in homes, check out the EPA’s guide to mold.

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