Radan Test- Help!

[Anthony Pelaez]

Hello fellow investors,

For some context I was going to close on a house Today on Feb 23rd. Our inspection report came back on Feb 21st and the home tested positive for Radan. Anything above 4 is bad and our report came back at 46.4 which is extremely alarming and dangerous. The builders first response was that we had to deal with it + get retested if we wanted to and if we wanted to push closing back we would have to pay $500 a day. To which made the decision to back out, and our realtor sent a communication to the builders. Minutes after we hear from the builders saying they will pay for the retest and they will let us push closing back without a cost. At this point it was too late for us. 

Some questions I have:
- Are mistakes common on a Radan test?
- ⁠The builders want to charge us $7,500 for backing out. This was included in the initial contract we signed when we put the $1,500 deposit. We want to fight this expense because we aren’t backing out just cause, we are backing out for a serious reason. What do you suggest?

[Devin De Lange]

Hi Anthony, 

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this, but happy to hear you made a decision that is best for you in the long term. 

If in your contract with the builder you made it conditional on inspections (including a radon inspection) and completed the inspection within the due diligence time period, I would think you should be able to back out of the contract without paying any additional costs. Do you have the communication with the builder in writing? Meaning, when they said no the first time around, was this in email or text format. That would give you more evidence should they try to pursue the $7500.

Radon tests are typically conducted over a period of several hours/days. Which test was performed in this case? Any test is subject to possible mis-reading, though those are more exceptions to the rule. It sounds like it is too late for you, but you could have conducted a separate test with another provider as a check to see if the first test was accurate or not (had the builder pay for it). 

Regardless of where you landed, Radon is not cheap to treat. It is a big investment to purchase a property knowing this is an issue and then have to treat it with a company. Would the builder be willing to pay for that?

Hope this helps!