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The letter was from the buyer asking for the money by July 20 otherwise he will be contacting an attorney.
How does the buyer know your new address (is it a second home you already owned)? Is the address available on an internet search? Did they use a private investigator to find you? They now know where you live 24/7 or is it a P.O. Box?
Contacting you directly (instead of through the buyer's agent or your listing agent) seems like an intimidation tactic. Do not reply to it directly. It's good you're contacting an attorney soon; have the attorney handle the correspondence and/or advise you.
DO NOT PAY AND DO NOT GET AN ATTORNEY YET. They haven't even spoken with an attorney yet. When they do, their attorney will likely say "you guys have no case". I agree with the other posters- you had no knowledge, therefore nothing to disclose. Your agent is dumb for telling you that you are in the wrong here. The buyers were aware of the leak, which makes their case even weaker.
At least wait until they've hired an attorney before you start racking up hourly fees.
Even if there is mold there nine thousand bucks sounds like way too much to take care of mold caused by a leak under a kitchen sink. We have done mold remediation on fixers and that price sounds outrageous.
You can't disclose what you don't know and can't be expected to tear things apart and look for possible mold. They knew about the leak under the sink even if you had forgotten about it. They bought the house knowing there was water leaking there. Where there is water leaking mold is a possibility. They chose not to address it. Not much you could have done.
Agreed. Here in Texas, general home inspectors are not allowed to disclose the presence of mold, even if they see it. That requires a separate licensed mold inspector. I'm not sure if that's the case in California, but it's worth checking. I think they're just trying to scare you, especially since the letter came from the buyer and wasn't a subpoena or anything. Don't let them rattle you. I don't even believe you need a lawyer. Tell them to take a hike. When you sign the disclosure form, you are listing what you honestly believe is wrong with the house and the big things you repaired while you owned it. If they wanted to check for mold, they could have hired a mold inspector on their dime. Tough for them.
BTW, even if the inspector missed the mold, they can't sue him her either. Assuming he's qualified to check for mold, buyers sign a disclaimer which holds the inspector not liable for things they missed. That's because inspectors are human and they make mistakes. Also, just because a home is in a certain condition today doesn't mean it will be in the exact same condition next week or next month. For example a water leak today can turn into mold tomorrow, after the inspector checks it, so obviously he wouldn't see it at the time of inspection.
Agreed. Here in Texas, general home inspectors are not allowed to disclose the presence of mold, even if they see it. That requires a separate licensed mold inspector. I'm not sure if that's the case in California, but it's worth checking. I think they're just trying to scare you. Don't let them. I don't even believe you need a lawyer. Tell them to take a hike. When you sign the disclosure form, you are listing what you honestly believe is wrong with the house and the big things you repaired while you owned it. If they wanted to check for mold, they could have hired a mold inspector on their dime. Tough for them.
I do not believe this is true....home inspectors are allowedto point out any issue which could be a potential problem, they just are not allowed to say it IS an actual problem. Much like the foundation, they can state that they have witnessed what appears to be damage to the foundation, but they can not give an opinion on the damage other than to state that a qualified engineer should be contacted for a professional opinion.
Do nothing. Do not reply. And no need to contact an attorney yet, waste of money if your not being sued yet.
Wait until they serve you papers (lawsuit) which I doubt they will because their attorney will probably say they will loose. They saw the leak during inspection and accepted it without repairs.
Its very likely this will just go away without any action on your part.
(In the past I wait it out. If they eventually hire an attorney, I ignore all letters. If they finally serve me with papers for a law suit, I send all letters direct to the attorney 1 paragraph per letter, each being mailed a few days apart. The attorney charges the client each time they have to open a letter and racks up the bills. I do this to punish them financially for frivolous legal bullying. One guy complained to me he spent $3500 on attorney fees so far. He finally gave up because he was wrong and didn't want to loose in court with even more costs. One time I did end up in court, it was dismissed and the judge scolded the lawyer and client for wasting the courts time.)
I do not believe this is true....home inspectors are allowedto point out any issue which could be a potential problem, they just are not allowed to say it IS an actual problem. Much like the foundation, they can state that they have witnessed what appears to be damage to the foundation, but they can not give an opinion on the damage other than to state that a qualified engineer should be contacted for a professional opinion.
Out here they call it "growth." "The sink has some fungal/mold/mildrew growth and should be tested for mold."
1) They have to prove that you knew the mold growth was there. That is different than thinking that you knew the mold growth was there.
2) If there is no mold growth documented by the home inspector they hired, that helps to prove that it was reasonable that you didn't know there was any mold growth.
I would hire an attorney to send them a letter just to be done with it. People can get nasty and you need to decide how many letters and such you want to get from the buyers.
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