Withholding a tenants deposit due to mold?

[Abi Horton]

I just bought a property that had tenements that were older and lived in the house for about 10 years. It came out during the inspection that there was a sewer line blockage and the tenants confirmed there had been “back ups”.

When viewing the property I could visibly see there is mold underneath the linoleum all over the bathroom floor. Some parts black near the toilet. But it’s on a concrete slab so was told I could just change the floor and treat it and be good. 

When the tenants moved out they found a number of spots behind furniture that had quite a bit of mold. After getting it inspected there are 6 areas where the drywall will have to be ripped out and replaced including two walls in the bathroom and I’m looking at $5k+ in remediation. 

Can I withhold the tenants deposit for this for negligence if not telling the landlord there was back ups/toilet problems? 

[Chris Seveney]

Quote from @Abi Horton:

I just bought a property that had tenements that were older and lived in the house for about 10 years. It came out during the inspection that there was a sewer line blockage and the tenants confirmed there had been “back ups”.

When viewing the property I could visibly see there is mold underneath the linoleum all over the bathroom floor. Some parts black near the toilet. But it’s on a concrete slab so was told I could just change the floor and treat it and be good. 

When the tenants moved out they found a number of spots behind furniture that had quite a bit of mold. After getting it inspected there are 6 areas where the drywall will have to be ripped out and replaced including two walls in the bathroom and I’m looking at $5k+ in remediation. 

Can I withhold the tenants deposit for this for negligence if not telling the landlord there was back ups/toilet problems? 

Can you prove they were negligent and did not say anything? In these situations it is very difficult to blame the tenant as you would need to prove that they should have noticed this mold. IT sounds like during the inspection they noted there were blockages, so that to me would cause the owner to want to inspect the property. 

If you get in front of a judge on this one, especially if you just bought the property, you are going to have a hard time convincing them (and then open yourself up to a suit that you let people live in a house with mold).