House Sold expenses unknown

[unknownUser]

State Maryland:

Hi, my sister stepfather and myself had a house in probate after my mother died. My stepfather (Jim) lived in the house the whole time it was in probate, it was appraised and while the appraiser was there he found a ton of mold growing throughout the house. Jim is a fully qualified building inspector and openly admitted that he knew the mold had been there for years after the appraiser found it.

My sister na d Jim and myself all had to pay for a mold inspector to come look and it and take readings as well as having to pay a company to come in and fix the problem this is totaling about $4,000.

Now my questions are, should my sister and I have to pay for the mold inspection, and should we have to pay for any of the repairs that are needed these include cleaning out the ac vents where mold is present, pulling down the dry wall and replacing it and a new paint job on the new dry wall.

My sister and I have never lived in this house only Jim has. The house has already sold and the probate attorney already has the check for the sale, which the money for the repairs is going to be taken out of and split three ways. We do not feel this is right as he knew about it for a long time but did nothing about it while he lived there.

 

[NY_Shark]

Your stepfather was not obligated to maintain the property over the years with the possibility of the house going into probate in mind. Further, the money to repair the house was taken out of the estate, which is then split evenly. In other words, the money to repair the house never was your money but belonged to the estate. It is only going to be yours when the executor cuts you a check. So as far as the court is concerned, you are not paying for it anyway.

 

[unknownUser]

Sorry I think I worded it wrong. While it was in probate he lived in the house, at the same time mold appeared and started to grow. He knew about this before any inspection of the house was done. My sister and I had to pay out of our pocket, money for a mold inspector to test. The money for the repair is out of our part of the settlement. This is something the court never said we had to pay, it had to be paid in order for the house to be sold. We are paying this out of our share of the house not coming out of the settlement as in the repairs was not paid for first then we are cut a check with the remaining balance. My point is, he knew about it and said nothing but let us pay for a mold inspector as well as expecting us to pay for the repairs for the house he lived in. As for the check it is in the lawyers safe, which we will be given and then we cash it and then have to pay the repair guys out of that. Why should he get away with not paying a penny, when he lived there? We don't and never have lived there yet have to pay for all the damages he openly admitted knowing about?

 

[NY_Shark]

Tell me if I am wrong on any of this:
Your mother willed the house to you and your sister. You didn't want the house, so you decided to sell it. In the meantime, Jim has been living here for several years with your mother, and then for several months while the will was going through probate. In order for you to sell the house, you had to get rid of the mold. Jim could have gotten rid of the mold a long time ago, but he chose not to. Now you have to pay for it.

If all that is correct, I do not see a way that Jim was obligated to fix this problem before you sold it. Especially if the house was in your mother's name only, and Jim was basically a tenant. That would mean that you were effectively the interim landlord, and solely responsible for the repairs. I think it is unfortunate that you are going to lose some money, but I don't see any way the surrogate court judge is going to force him to pay for repairs on your property so that you can make more money, even if he was aware of them beforehand.