All Forum Posts by: Wesley Weisberg

I honestly have no idea and we are not asking questions. They only asked us for a good faith payment of $7,500 and it sounds like they are covering the rest. I think we lucked out on this one despite the circumstances. 

Thank you @Joe Homs! I appreciate the support. 

Where do I go to find lease documents on all 50 states as advertised by becoming a Pro member? I'm having a hard time navigating the website. Thank you!

Wesley 

UPDATE: Case settled, tenant won $115,000 without producing any evidence or ailments. Our lease was old and had attorney fee's provisions clause which made the case too risky to go to court regardless if we were in the right. Plaintiff attorney capitalized on that and insurance settled. Insane to me that they were able to get away with that. 

Make sure your leases are updated and attorney proof. We have updated all our rental agreements now. 

 Chris, they have an injury lawyer. Claiming health defects from mold exposure, along with a laundry list of demands. Again, was only common mold and we took action immediately. We did a mold inspection and have that report. The tenant did their own mold inspection, which aligned with our inspection so was not necessary. 

We filed a claim immediately but was denied because the water damage stemmed from "shallow groundwater" infiltrating the slab then walls. We require our tenants to all have renters insurance. I told them to file a claim to see if it would help them but their claim was denied as well....insurance is crap basically. I cant believe we were denied since SD was receiving unprecedented rain during that time 40 days straight of rain. We even tried FEMA but no luck.

We have a litigation attorney we are retaining who deals directly with tenant/landlord issues. But he is expensive. We are awaiting his thoughts on the matter to see if we even have a shot or if we will be wasting our time and just settle. It makes me sick to my stomach the thought of settling but I also know that its a gamble to go forward with litigation. The properties are my grandmothers and I help her maintain and manage them. This is all very stressful for her, 40 years of managing her rentals and this is the first time this has happened.  

What have other land lords done when former tenant sues for mold?? Have a bad situation where former tenant unjustly is suing for mold. Insurance does not cover, nor does umbrella coverage. Insurance attorney recommending settling but its hard to think of paying out when we know the charges are not truthful and former tenant is seeking insurance money. Insurance has no skin in it since they don't cover mold, only have duty to defend. 

Mold was caused by shallow groundwater/excessive rain last winter. Tenant did not do anything to help mitigate mold growth, actually ran a humidifier. Claiming landlord negligence and breach of habitability.  Time between mold identification to when remediation started was six days. No black mold, only common mold. Tenant moved out 3 days after discovery into air-bnb that was 3 times rent and expected us to pay. Was non-cooperative and delayed remediation due to not providing access (would not move items in house). Broke the lease. 

Property has been fully remediated and is re-rented. Post remediation mold inspection passed. 

Has anyone had this happen? I'm told these suites are very common. We are looking at all options and any suggestions. Most importantly, how do we protect from this happening again in the future?! Are there other insurance agencies that cover mold and groundwater damage? For sure, better tenant screening....

 Hi Daniel. I manage rental properties in the San Diego area and would love if you had a few contacts for good general contractors and roofing companies that you might recommend? Thank you! -Wesley