Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Indiana

My husband and I moved into a large home in Indiana that was recently remodeled and we purchased it on a land contract. The man we purchased it from owns many homes (over 20) and since moving in we have been warned of how he cosmetically fixes up homes but structurally they are very messed up. We were young and stupid and since I knew the man (he used to coach me in softball and I grew up with his kids) I trusted that the house was fine since it had just been remodeled. (STUPID MISTAKE!) We have definitely learned our lesson there. We have lived there for a year now, and the house went from beautiful to disastrous. We decided to look into grounds for cancelling our contract due to the poor situation of how our house is literally falling apart and since we have put so much money into the home there is a clause in the contract where we can cancel at a certain point as well. There is just no way he did not know about the issues he created in this home. Our 20 mo old son has had respiratory issues for months since we moved into the home. He has been on breathing treatments and in and out of the hospital and dr office monthly. We recently found a large bit of mold right above his crib when the paint literally just peeled and cracked off the wall. We hired an inspector to come into the home and he said the hot water heater is a huge fire hazard, the gas furnace is installed improperly and is a huge fire hazard, there is not grounding for our electric in the home, and my son�s bedroom floor is caving in due to him cutting through support beams when he installed the front door below his room. The roof needs to be completely replaced. Apparently he used calking to �repair� the roof and water has basically been just running down the outer walls of our home and we have a HUGE mold problem. The floors were literally laid on top of old vents and old flooring with strips of wainscoting in between. Our walls are turning to literal mush�the wainscoting was warping and paint has been chipping and falling off the walls due to the moisture and mold. The house smells like a giant pile of dirt due to all of the mold. The inspector has basically advised nobody go into my sons room because the floor may cave in. The breaker box was basically enclosed into the wall with no clearance around it � you can�t even take the front panel off. We moved out immediately due to our son�s breathing issues and our son hasn�t had any breathing issues since we left. He is completely off breathing treatments and isn�t even congested and we�ve only been out 2 weeks! We have talked to an attorney and have been discussing our options. Apparently on top of all of this, the contract probably isn�t even legal because the home was listed in him and his wife�s name and only he signed the land contract. We have put over $20,000 towards this home thinking we were purchasing a dream home and it is literally a death trap. It went from beautiful to a piece of crap in a matter of months. My question is, what govt officials can we get involved to inspect our home and bring major awareness to this man�s shady practices? We are going to seek refund of our $8,000 tax credit so we can pay the IRS back since this was our first time purchasing a home. We aren�t sure if it is worth getting into a huge legal battle and paying through the nose for legal fees if he probably wouldn�t have the money to repay us anyway. What we want most is to prevent this man from being able to buy and cosmetically fix up homes and sell them to vulnerable people under land contracts that might get into issues like us. Just 3 weeks ago a home of his burned to the ground (my guess is probably due to the electrical nightmares he creates). Thankfully the family was at church that morning and nobody was injured, however they have nothing left! He does not hire professionals to do his work. He has already been to jail 2 times in the past 6 months fro breaking and entering into his tenants homes. We have been advised by our attorney not to speak to him at all until we are completely moved into a new place due to his mental instability and anger issues. (apparently this man is bipolar and has anger issues, especially towards women) We just want to get the right people involved to put a stop to this guy�s nonsense before the next house burns down and someone gets killed. We are lucky it wasn�t us! I want to do the right thing. Our attorney told us to have the fire marshal come in, but isn�t there more people we can get involved to put a stop to this guy? We had an electrical engineer come in and inspect the electric work and he said there are multiple major code violations. This guys is a monster and a danger to society in my opinion. I would appreciate feedback you can provide. I want to make it so he can�t hurt another family just to make an extra buck.

Thanks,

Jennifer Y.

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