First time investor gets owned

[Harris Pantlik]

So long story short I purchased two homes on the same lot June 16, 2020. I live in the slightly bigger one and rent the smaller one out to a nice young lady who has been pleasant to deal with.

Fast forward to August 24, 2020, it is raining very hard (3 inches that day) and my tenant calls me and reports water leaking from the floor boards and the laminate flooring is beginning to bubble up.

Upon inspection of the exterior of the house the night of the event, I discover sand bags butting up against the side that were covered by pine straw. I believe this was on of the bandaids performed by the previous owners to mitigate flooding issues. I also noticed a tree with roots that are butting up directly next to the foundation and siding of the house where I believe so far the water intrusion occurred.

I began ripping up floor boards believing this was just a one a time event but to my surprise I discovered a significant amount of mold beneath the plastic and on top of the slab. The mold covers approximately 1/5 of the slab of the house and I am unsure of the condition of the sheet rock.

Upon discovery of the mold I asked my tenant to find some where else to live while I called disaster plus, a mold remediation company to begin the clean up process. They will hopefully be complete with clean up this weekend. I also have a put back contractor coming out Monday to try and get the tenant back in her home while I address the apparent drainage issue I’m experiencing.

I have also begun clearing the root away from the house which has become somewhat of an arduous task since traditional stump grinders do not fit in between my rent house and the neighbors fence. I have also removed two trees that have root systems next to the foundation and I am getting a quote for the third.

I looked back at the disclosure and inspection. In the inspection I don’t see any mention of the 20 sandbags near the foundation but the inspector did have one line stating “marginal- vegetation need to be cut back away from the house as they may damage the side” and “acceptable- drainage”

When I looked back at the disclosure I see where the previous owners have repaired moisture damage in the past by a company called biosweep. The home owners attached the estimate which stated the repairs to water damage. What I found out later after I emailed biosweep, is they included the recommendation in the final invoice to install a French drain system on the side of the home. The final invoice was NOT included in the disclosure. The homeowners also did NOT report the apparent crack in the foundation with pictures that was sealed by biosweep in the estimate.

After speaking with the neighbor who performed the landscaping around the two houses, he told me that in December 2019, around the time of the moisture repair, the previous homeowners decided not to go forth with French drain installation as the cost would be astronomical to remove the trees, stumps and root systems. Instead they installed gutter systems which were relatively clean upon inspection the night of the water intrusion.

I have contacted insurance who has denied my claim and now I guess my only other option is to go legal.

I have contacted a foundation repair specialist that does French drain installation to also come take a look at my issue.

I believe I can get my tenant back in her space by next week but my water intrusion issue could easily happen again if I can’t come up with a quick solution to prevent water from coming into te house. I believe I have a temporary solution of cutting back the roots until the French drain/foundation company can get their hands on the issue.

Any one have any advice?