Laundry Room and Washing Machine Mould Problems

[Nov. 4, 2003]

Q. (I am considering selling my home.)  2½ years ago we had a washing machine leak, which resulted in water damage to over half of our home.  (1000sq ft).  The initial restoration company did not do all they should have to dry out our home; they only pulled up carpet padding and carpet.  No baseboards were pulled, no drywall drilled to air out the walls.  They brought in fans, but no de-humidifiers.  That month in 2001 we had terrible humidity.  A week later when the insurance company sent out their own people, the floors and walls were still wet...that is how we got the mould.  We had a mould restoration specialty company come in and over $60,000 and six months later we were mould free.  Now we are considering moving to a bigger house.  What are the laws and/or limitations on mould disclosure.  As far as insurance companies go, would a decent rate be easier to obtain if the water claim was due to a washing machine and not plumbing?

A. Your questions are primarily of a legal nature that you need to ask of a local real estate attorney or environmental attorney. In general, real estate sellers in most states have a legal obligation to reveal to prospective buyers both present and previous water and mould problems. Be sure to order the CLUE report through your insurance agent that reveals what the insurance industry as a group in its CLUE data base knows about your home's flood/mould claims. There is a good chance that the house is either uninsurable or only insurable at very high premiums. It is the CLUE report that often trips up sellers who fail to disclose prior mould problems when the new buyer finds out that he cannot buy homeowner's insurance at an affordable cost. I hope you have had your home very thoroughly mould inspected and mould tested recently [by an independent mould testing company with no connection to the mould removal company you utilized] to make sure that the mould remediation job was successful in getting rid of the mould problem. That would help you sell the house. Because many mould remediation jobs are poorly done, don't be too content if the seller tells you that the mould problems have already been taken care of.  You are always to investigate a prospective real estate purchase with the use of do it yourself mold test kits and the services of a Certified Mold Inspector.


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