I Found Mold In My House One Month After Purchasing It, Now I'm Homeless

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ramsey Show Highlights – "I Found Mold In My House One Month After Purchasing It, Now I'm Homeless"

Release Date: June 22, 2025
Host: Ramsey Network

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1. Introduction to Melissa's Predicament

In this episode of The Ramsey Show Highlights, Melissa shares her distressing experience of discovering significant mold contamination in her recently purchased home in West Virginia. Having bought the property only a month prior, Melissa and her family began suffering from severe allergy-like symptoms, prompting her to investigate the underlying causes.

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2. Discovery of Mold and Health Implications

Melissa recounts, "[...] my family and I have got really sick, experiencing allergy like symptoms. Got the long story short, ended up getting someone to come and test for mold. And it's very high numbers in sterrabotrous. I don't know, I'm probably butchering that name, but it's the one that's really, really dangerous." ([00:10])

The presence of an aggressive mold type, likely sterbartous (exact name uncertain), posed significant health risks, leading Melissa to face the dire reality of living in a contaminated environment.

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3. Issues with Home Inspection and Disclosure

Despite hiring a reputable home inspector, Melissa was blindsided by the undetected mold and the basement not being up to code. She highlights the shortcomings of the inspection process:

"The mold is in plain view, but from a layperson, if you look at it, it looks like mildew or maybe like dirt, just like a dirty basement. But the second inspector that came in said this is definitely mold. Nobody called this." ([01:25])

Melissa emphasizes the betrayal felt when the inspector, despite having over 20 years of experience and excellent reviews, failed to identify critical issues:

"He has great reviews, great views on the bbb. And that's weird, all this stuff. And I was like, are you approved by the VA? And he was like, yes." ([03:19])

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4. Legal Challenges and "Buyer Beware" in West Virginia

Upon consulting with attorneys, Melissa learned that West Virginia operates under a "buyer beware" doctrine, significantly limiting her legal recourse:

"But they're saying that the likelihood of it winning in court is low because of that caveat on buyer beware thing in West Virginia and the fact that they have no duty to disclose mold in West Virginia." ([03:56])

This revelation left Melissa contemplating whether to undertake costly mold remediation or pursue a deed in lieu of foreclosure, leaving her homeless.

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5. Financial Strain and Insurance Denials

Melissa outlines the financial burdens she's facing:

• Remediation Costs: "The cost of going [through] the basement is like $20,000 plus. And the mold remediation itself would be $10k plus." ([02:24])
• Insurance Denial: Her homeowner's insurance deemed the mold a preexisting condition, refusing to cover the remediation expenses.

Despite earning approximately $80,000 annually and receiving around $5,000 monthly from disability benefits, Melissa lacks the additional funds needed for the extensive repairs. Her monthly mortgage stands at $1,500, straining her financial stability.

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6. Exploring Possible Solutions

The advisor offers several strategies to help Melissa navigate her predicament:

• Sell the Property: "I would put it on the market and try to sell it just to get out of it." ([07:11])

  The rationale is to remediate the mold to make the property sellable, thereby avoiding foreclosure and minimizing further financial damage.

• Renting Alternative: The host suggests temporarily renting to alleviate immediate housing instability:

  "I would just go rent somewhere. I mean be paying the mortgage, go rent because this isn't feasible." ([07:12])

• Legal Recourse: Seeking a second legal opinion might increase the chances of a favorable outcome, potentially holding the inspector or previous owner accountable despite the "buyer beware" stipulation.

• Renovation Strategy: Focus on the most critical issues first—removing the mold to make the home safe and marketable, with plans to address the basement's code violations separately if possible.

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7. Emotional and Family Impact

Melissa expresses profound frustration and concern for her family's well-being:

"I, I need to get out of it because we're essentially homeless." ([04:58])

The stress of relocating, coupled with the health risks posed by the mold, has taken a significant emotional toll on her and her two children, who had to be pulled out of school due to allergies.

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8. Final Recommendations and Support

The advisors convey empathy and offer practical advice:

• Immediate Action: Prioritize the removal of mold to ensure the family's health and to make the property sellable.

• Financial Planning: While $10,000 is needed for initial remediation, restructuring finances or seeking community support might be necessary to manage the costs effectively.

• Legal Persistence: Despite initial setbacks, continuing to seek legal assistance could uncover alternative paths to recoup losses or compel the inspector's accountability.

Melissa's story underscores the importance of thorough property inspections and the potential pitfalls of "buyer beware" markets, highlighting the critical need for vigilance in real estate transactions.

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Notable Quotes:

• "I have to disclose it and it's not remediated. So also I asked that question. They said a lot of lenders won't allow. You won't lend on a home with mold, with active mold." – Melissa ([05:16])

• "It's such a headache. Terrible, terrible, terrible." – Host ([09:19])

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This episode serves as a cautionary tale for homebuyers to ensure comprehensive inspections and understand their legal protections, or lack thereof, when purchasing property. Melissa's experience emphasizes the complexities and unforeseen challenges that can arise post-purchase, especially in states with stringent "buyer beware" laws.

Transcript

[Host]

Brought to you by chm, a biblically based alternative to health insurance. Learn [e-mail] budget so I recently purchased.

[Melissa]

A home in West Virginia about a month ago and since living there, my family and I have got really sick, experiencing allergy like symptoms. Got the long story short, ended up getting someone to come and test for mold. And it's very high numbers in statrabotrous. I don't know, I'm probably butchering that name, but it's the one that's really, really dangerous. So now I'm in the other side. I'm post closing. I did go through the property disclosure. It was as is and it was a flip. And also I did also get a home inspector as well and this is through a VA loan. So now I'm trying to figure out if I should do a mold remediation myself or go ahead and do a deed in lieu of foreclosure situation because now I don't feel comfortable staying there at all because what else is concealed in this house, I don't know. And turns out the guy that flipped it has a horrible reputation around the community for doing basically pig lipstick on a pig lips.

[Advisor]

So when you did the, when you did the inspection to purchase the home, it didn't come up on the inspection, but now it is. Can you, can you clarify that for me?

[Melissa]

Yeah, the mold is in plain view, but from a layperson, if you look at it, it looks like mildew or maybe like dirt, just like a dirty basement. But the second inspector that came in said this is definitely mold. It's in plain view. Nobody called this. He said the appraiser could have called it, but I know they're there for just evaluation purposes. But he said that, you know, you potentially have a case. And I've contacted attorneys and they are all pretty much that. That I don't have a case because it's a buyer beware state, which I wasn't. Oh, I didn't know what that meant. So the onus is on the buyers and it's not a lot of consumer protections for us in West Virginia. Wow.

[Host]

Have you had any estimates on what it would cost to try to go through? And I mean, mold is such a. It's such a frustrating part of the, you know, that whole process of renovation. But have you.

[Advisor]

Yeah. What's reminiscing cost?

[Melissa]

Yes. So I had an adjuster come for with my homeowner's insurance, but of course they deemed it preexisting. And the adjuster told me that the basement is not even up the code. So the cost of going the basement is like 20,000 plus. And the mold remediation itself would be 10.10k plus.

[Advisor]

Is that how many. Okay, so let's keep. I think for. For now, we keep the mold separate from the basement, not being to code and find out. Because here's the thing. If you get the mold out of the house and you're ready to sell the property, then you can say, you can sell it, you can feel good about it. There's no mold here. The other question. But I did have the question. So you're telling me your inspector missed the mold and missed the fact that the basement wasn't to code?

[Melissa]

Yes. And he said one of my questions before I hired him was, you know, how long have you been doing it? You know, what are your. Just ask him his history of his work. And he's like over 20 years. And I looked at reviews. He has great reviews, great views on the bbb. And that's weird, all this stuff. And I was like, are you approved by the va? And he was like, yes. And I verified everything and everything checked out on paper. But yeah, none of that.

[Advisor]

And there's nothing on him. There's. He's completely. There's no liability towards whoever did the inspection.

[Host]

That's what the lawyers are saying.

[Melissa]

But they're saying that the likelihood of it winning in court is low because of that caveat on tour, buyer beware thing in West Virginia and the fact that they have no duty to disclose mold in West Virginia.

[Advisor]

What's the point of the Deckham inspection? What? What's the point of it?

[Melissa]

Exactly. Exactly. You would have to hire a mold inspector on top of and a radon inspector and whatever other inspectors separately in order to do this. And they said it was a law just passed with the Supreme Court back, I think 2020, just last year. It was something recent that passed. But my realtor in the agency, his broker, he told me that I could. I did have something and that I should pursue it, but my thing is go into further debt with litigation going back and forth with these lawyers.

[Advisor]

Yeah.

[Melissa]

Which is a shot in the dark. Or just take an L. And. And I mean, it's going to ding my credit, but I need to get out of it because we're essentially homeless.

[Advisor]

Why can't you just put it on the market? You've purchased it. Can't you just put it back on the market for sale? Why does it have to go into foreclosure? I guess is what I'm saying.

[Melissa]

Because I don't, I, I'm going to have to disclose it and it's not remediated. So also I asked that question. They said a lot of lenders won't allow. You won't lend on a home with mold, with active mold. Now the mold, I don't know if it's active because I've got a dehumidifier down there and I've sealed up where moisture may have gotten in. But I don't know who deems it active or not. But you can see it now because I've pulled paneling off. It was hidden. It was even more like the obvious mold that you would be behind paneling.

[Advisor]

So what if we said this, what if we said let's get a couple of opinions on what it's really going to cost to get this remediated. And then do you have any money anywhere?

[Melissa]

No. And I'm the money I am getting. I run a business out of West Virginia and right now we're living with my man and we're going back and forth two and a half hours between Columbus and where we're at every other day. So I can still take clients and that money is going towards gas and food and because I've had to take the kids out of school because they are allergic to it and I got them allergy tested to verify what I'm saying, you know.

[Host]

Yeah. How much are you making a year, Melissa?

[Melissa]

I make so I'm a disabled veteran. So on top of that I would say about 80, 70, 80,000 a year.

[Advisor]

What do you get for the disability per month?

[Melissa]

About five.

[Advisor]

Okay, so just under five.

[Melissa]

It's like four, nine or four, eight, something like that.

[Advisor]

Okay. And then what do you take home from your actual job? Take home.

[Host]

Per month?

[Melissa]

I would say about, about five.

[Advisor]

So we've got 10K a month. How many kids?

[Melissa]

Two.

[Advisor]

And how much, how much is this mortgage out of your take home? 1500.

[Melissa]

Uh huh.

[Host]

Okay, that's good.

[Advisor]

This is.

[Host]

Melissa. I almost would just go rent somewhere. I mean be paying the mortgage, go rent because this isn't feasible. The two and a half hour thing, I think that adds stress. I think that's like, that's exhausting everybody pulling the kids out of the routine. I mean that's just miserable. I would just go rent somewhere. Go rent a 12 bedroom apartment knowing it's short term.

[Advisor]

Cheap. Cheap, Cheap.

[Host]

Yes. Just knowing like we, this is what we're going to do just to have some stability from where you were and.

[Advisor]

Then they can get back in school.

[Host]

Yes. And then from there, gosh, I would. I would probably get even a second attorney's opinion. And sometimes, you know, they'll take cases and with the, you know, with what you know is won in court, if so, then that's how they get paid. So you're not having to go deeply in debt with all this litigation and stuff. So. So maybe even from a different standpoint, from a payment perspective, you can find someone different on that end. But I would probably still pursue that because this. This doesn't. This feels like a lot of negligence on the end of your inspector, even though the mold thing, which I guess is the biggest part of all of this, if he doesn't have to disclose it or find it, it has to be separate in West Virginia. I mean, that's just bizarre. And then I would be saving and I would do the cheapest renovation you can to get this mold out that would be safe to resale so that you can, in good conscious, sell this home. Would you want to stay in the home if you did get the mold all clear?

[Melissa]

I don't. And I don't want to say I love the home. That's why I bought it. But I no longer want to stay there because now with this man's reputation being the way it is.

[Advisor]

Yeah. You don't think more things will be wrong?

[Host]

You don't know. You don't know. Yeah. So I would. I would save Melissa really aggressively, stage by stage, be getting redoing this house from just the mold. Right. Not the up to code basement thing. You know, someone can renovate that if they want, but just getting the mold out, put it on the market and sell it. And in good faith to say, yeah, you know, this was cleaned up.

[Advisor]

Yeah.

[Host]

You don't know. I mean, yeah, the guy has a terrible reputation. You don't know what else is there, but you don't know. Right. And if the inspector finds something else, then we can deal with that. But I would put it on the market and try to sell it just to get out of it.

[Advisor]

And we'll give you every dollar so you can really plan this. $10,000 a month to make that happen.

[Host]

Yes. Oh, I'm so sorry, Melissa. It's such a headache. Terrible, terrible, terrible. CHM isn't health insurance. It's a health cost sharing ministry. Check it out for [e-mail] budget.