Tenant threatening to sue over wants mold inspection

[Doug S.]

Hello BiggerPockets Forum,

I have tenants in my SFH rental property in Virginia that are giving me a headache. The basement, where one of the tenants is living, has had some minor flooding. I've spent several thousand to install a water barrier to prevent water from coming inside, replaced the carpet and underlayment, and replaced the base boards. Now the tenant who lives in basement is demanding a mold inspection. The house is only 3 bedrooms, but 4 people live in it and basement is NOT technically considered bedroom.

I am under any obligation to provide a mold inspection? I feel like I've already remediated the problem and I have no reason to believe there is any mold damage or that the basement is uninhabitable. There is no visible mold. To be honest, I may normally would be willing to provide the report but the requests of this tenant never seems to end. The tenant is really pushy and self righteous - now threatening to sue because I will not order a mold inspection.

The lease they signed is not covered under VRLTA but this does apply: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+55-225.6

Thanks

[J Scott]

I'm not an attorney, so take this for what it's worth...

If there was flooding in the basement that was the result of something that wasn't the fault of the occupants (in other words, it was a maintenance issue that you were responsible for fixing), it's not unreasonable for the tenants to ask for a mold test. Had there been no flood, this would be an unreasonable request, but water breeds mold and there is no argument that there was recent water intrusion. So, in my opinion, the request is reasonable, especially if someone is legally living in the basement.

A single air quality test shouldn't be more than $250 -- shop around if you're getting quotes more than that.

If the test comes back negative, tell the tenants that you consider the water issue over and done with, and hopefully they'll be satisfied. If the test comes back indicating high spore counts, you should gladly remediate the problem and retest to verify that the remediation worked.

Not only does this seem like the legally prudent road to follow, it also seems like the right thing to do as a landlord/businessman.