H
HNDuffin
Guest
My husband and I purchased our second home and moved in on Sept. 1, 2000. About four days after we moved in, I stepped out of the shower in our upstairs master bathroom, and felt a very mushy floor under the linoleum. Not really thinking a whole lot, the same morning my neighbors told me of some serious water damage that had occurred to the house about 7 months back. It sparked a light in my head, and I immediately called my agent on the issue. I went into my paperwork, and saw that the seller signed the disclosure statement stating that there were no known damages etc done to the home... The next day I recieved my insurance policy info in the mail, in which it clearly stated on the 5 year loss history on the home, that there was a $95,564 water damage claim on the home on 3/19/00. I ran upstairs to pull up the floor, and found massive mold growth, and dry rot.... the floor looks like it could give any minute! The rest of the bathroom floor is warped and blistered. I then demanded our pest inspection report from my agent, seeing that it was not in my paperwork, and she had a hard time retreiving it also. In the report, it states that the floor is blistered and uneven..but was signed off as a clear report. Anyways, notifying the seller of this, he was immediately ready to send his contractor out to fix the problem. We do not trust this man, since he will not furnish anyone with proof of repairs, in which we know from several neighbors (and it is very obvious) that the house was totally rehabbed. We told him that we would be finding our own contractor, in which we got 3 different estimates, all of them totalling over $10,000 to repair the damage. He agreed in the beginning to pay for repairs, upon us getting several quotes. We did this, and now he wants to send his contractor out for a second opinion. He is lying to his agent and mine, and is now not taking care of what he said he would. We have a letter in writing that states he will pay for the repairs. What are we to do now? It is going to cost us alot of money up front for a lawyer, but is it worth it, will we be able to win a case against him? We haven't been able to use that bathroom for over two months now! And now I'm afraid that if he covered up the bathroom floor situation, did the rest of the house get repaired properly? The insurance company paid him $95,564! And the house only appraises at $130,000! Help me please! I am really scared that there is mold growing in the rest of the house, and it will become a major health hazard for my children, ages 3 and 1.