Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
recently purchased a home & had to move out because of mold & moisture. The seller was also the listing agent that did not disclose during the sale. can I sue? I had to move out the home is unhabitable & seller is still trying to fix the issues
3 Answers from Attorneys
Sure.
Anybody can sue anybody for anything.
Winning is a different question.
You can't sue or win, unless you have a industry and court qualified 'expert' in that field, whose testimony as an 'expert' will be admissible in court, who will conduct testing and then testify is support of your allegations.
After you have hired an expert, obtained his report that shows there was significant mold that was a significant danger to your health, then feel free to contact me to discuss the case, value and cost of suing.
supplemental answer:
I discussed your suit on mold above. That answer stands if you are going to try to win on mold based personal injury. FYI: that is a tough case to win, requiring proof of medical damages and treatment through testimony of your treating physicians.
Separate but related, you have a case for fraud and breach of contract against the seller / agent for failure to disclose defects [mold and others]. Contact me about the wisdom of immediately taking action on that, because you might be able to settle the case, without having to go through with expert expenses.
While I generally agree with Mr. Nelson's responses, I think it needs to be pointed out that (1) the duty of a seller to disclose problems depends upon the seller having actual knowledge of the problems, and (2) even though a real estate agent in selling property has additional duties to investigate and disclose problems that go beyond the owner's duties, the agent is not expected to be an expert on detecting and classifying toxic mold. I think you should hunt down and interview attorneys with specific and successful experience in prosecuting toxic mold cases in your county.