Fraudulent sellers disclosure

[Andrew Tucker]

The seller lied on a sellers disclosure regarding water in the basement which resulted in toxic mold exposure and huge health issues for my family. We viewed and purchased the property while it was winterized. The basement was dry during our inspection and mold was dormant due to the cold temperatures. During the spring thaw and after turning on the heat toxic mold became active and got my family very sick for three weeks during our early renovations. We are now moving forward with digging up the exterior foundation and installing French drains. We will miss 4 weeks of STR rentals during peak season due to the delays and both me and my wife missed two weeks of work due to related health issues. This event will probably cost around $20,000 by the time it's finished. I found past tenants of the property who all claim the basement always flooded. Is this worth pursuing legal action?

[Russell Brazil]

Take a lawyers hourly rate, say $350 an hour....multiply that by the amount of hours likely to take, say 40 hours, you arrive at about $14,000. Then your probability of winning is probably 50%.   So are you willing to spend $10-15k for the 50% chance of recovering $20k?