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Started By
Message
Small Claims Court
Posted on 4/10/25 at 3:00 pm
Posted on 4/10/25 at 3:00 pm
I recently bought a house, and the sellers left a water/mold issue off the seller's disclosure and intentionally covered up the problem. I found it after the keys were turned over in the back corner of the master closet. I have them admitting to the issue a couple of times on record and acknowledging they knew about it.
I missed it on walkthroughs, and the inspector missed this when looking at the house.
Total repairs and mold remediation cost me approximately. $2500 bucks. Is it worth bringing them to small claims court over? At first, it seemed like they were going to play nice and cover my costs, but then started crawfishing, so I sent a Letter of Demand. They responded with a letter saying "it was like that when they purchased the home.... they didn't know there was a mold issue, and some other sob story language about not being able to afford to pay for the damages and selling this home was hard for them..." They offered me $600 bucks and want me to feel bad for them.
Out of principle I want to take them to court and seek full compensation. I have never even remotely done something like this, so any help is appreciated.
I missed it on walkthroughs, and the inspector missed this when looking at the house.
Total repairs and mold remediation cost me approximately. $2500 bucks. Is it worth bringing them to small claims court over? At first, it seemed like they were going to play nice and cover my costs, but then started crawfishing, so I sent a Letter of Demand. They responded with a letter saying "it was like that when they purchased the home.... they didn't know there was a mold issue, and some other sob story language about not being able to afford to pay for the damages and selling this home was hard for them..." They offered me $600 bucks and want me to feel bad for them.
Out of principle I want to take them to court and seek full compensation. I have never even remotely done something like this, so any help is appreciated.
4
Posted on 4/10/25 at 3:53 pm to JohnDoe00
Find a lawyer if you feel that strong about it. The issue not being on inspection report or discovered by you isn't good but if they knew about it but never disclosed who knows. I think juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze though.
Posted on 4/10/25 at 4:02 pm to JohnDoe00
If they sold the house they would obviously have the money to pay for it unless they spent all the proceeds somehow
That being said $2500 is pretty small peanuts to worry that much about. By the way, thats incredibly cheap for a water/mold remediation job, my company owns about a dozen remediation companies across the US and thats definitely a pretty small job if you got it done for $2500. Our average water jobs for single family homes are probably $5k-$7k, mold jobs most of our companies wont do less than $8k.
That being said $2500 is pretty small peanuts to worry that much about. By the way, thats incredibly cheap for a water/mold remediation job, my company owns about a dozen remediation companies across the US and thats definitely a pretty small job if you got it done for $2500. Our average water jobs for single family homes are probably $5k-$7k, mold jobs most of our companies wont do less than $8k.
This post was edited on 4/10/25 at 4:04 pm
Posted on 4/10/25 at 4:14 pm to JohnDoe00
This in Louisiana? If so, Louisiana is an "as-is" state, so going back to the seller post-closing for issues is a tough hill to climb unless you can really prove they knew of the defect and didn't disclose. So I guess it depends how good this admission is that you have on the record.
If you pursue, small claims court is probably the best route. I don't know if I'd even hire an attorney over $2,500. He'll probably cost more than what you'll win -- if you even win at all. And maybe you could be awarded attorney's fees, but if they are struggling to pay $2,500, they'll struggle even more to pay $2,500 + fees. At the end of the day, you'll just have a piece of paper and no telling whether they'll ever be able to pay it.
If you pursue, small claims court is probably the best route. I don't know if I'd even hire an attorney over $2,500. He'll probably cost more than what you'll win -- if you even win at all. And maybe you could be awarded attorney's fees, but if they are struggling to pay $2,500, they'll struggle even more to pay $2,500 + fees. At the end of the day, you'll just have a piece of paper and no telling whether they'll ever be able to pay it.
Posted on 4/10/25 at 4:24 pm to Neauxla_Tiger
I am in TX. They admitted to it in writing in a letter, texts messages, and a recorded phone call. Also, I get it's small peanuts, but f*** them.
Posted on 4/10/25 at 4:32 pm to thunderbird1100
It was localized behind the shower. The remediation company just zipwalled it and put that HEPA filter in it while they tore it out and cleaned it up. Not sure if that was appropriate or not, but a mold inspector in the family told me what to do and that it should be fine.
Posted on 4/10/25 at 8:26 pm to JohnDoe00
If you have proof that they knew and didn’t disclose it you might have a shot. We had a seller not disclose something and an inspector who missed it. No lawyer would touch bc the sale paper contained “As is” and Waiver of Retribution.” He was a flipper. We lost in small claims court bc of that and no proof seller knew. It actually seemed like the justice of the peace and seller were buddies at the hearing. This was years ago. From that l learned to hire a professional in each thing needing inspection. Plumber, electrician, roofer, etc. I don’t think home inspectors are worthwhile, really.
Posted on 4/10/25 at 8:48 pm to Dixie2023
I won a small claims court suit from shiner beer about 15 years ago due to ingesting a piece of glass from a beer bottle. It's far more work to understand the legal requirements and filing the paper work than you can imagine. My 3500 dollar settlement worked out to about 3.50/hr for the effort I put in. Just wet it down good with chlorox, slap some paint on it and spend the rest of the day boiling crawfishl
Posted on 4/10/25 at 9:16 pm to Trevaylin
That’s the way to do it. And go on about your day as you said. Glad you won your case, though.
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