A house down the street from me was busted couple years ago for growing marijuana in the house.  The entire house was turned into hydroponic grow house for growing marijuana.  I think they were active for 2 and maybe 3 years.  After they got busted about 80% of inside was gutted and there was so much mold that you could smell the mold/mildew from the street if the wind wasn't blowing hard.  The house was foreclosed and bank held it for about 5 years.  For last couple months the bank had the inside rebuilt and sold it to a family last month.  I met the new buyers yesterday and as we were talking about their house it was obvious that they didn't know anything about the history of the house...that it was used to grow pot and it was torn out due to mold.  This morning they came to me and asked if I can tell them about the history of their new house as their other neighbor said something about the SWAT busting down the door and the occupants getting arrested and how electricity and water had to be cut to the house due to all the illegal electrical wirings in the house.  Well, I told them the whole story and they were horrified that they are now living in a house that was rebuilt due to mold.

What I'd like to know is if the bank had legal requirement to disclose to the new buyer the history of the house and the how it was full of mold.

Call the Health Department... I've sold two houses in the past and the disclosure paperwork covered all kinds of stuff... just can't recall whether or not mold was on the list.

My 2 cents

I would hope they had the home inspected before purchase?  I just purchased a home in December and our inspector was pretty anal and pointed out every issue whether big or small.

They should contact their realtor and ask if anything was disclosed buy the bank about the mold.  IMO, with the mold being as bad as you are saying, I would hope that a remediation company did the mold removal and it was inspected by the health department. Mold is nothing to screw around with and can cause major long term health issue including death depending on what kind of mold it is.

They shouldn't drag their feet and make sure it is safe.

Should be a disclosure about being a grow house, law covers any "latent" defect.  I'd say that's a big one.  Lawyer up

Bank foreclosures usually are sold "as is" and without disclosures.. Buyer should have checked it out..

Yup, should have had inspections done.  

We signed a contract to buy a place in Florida, put 20% down, and then were able to get an inspector in.  The mold tests came back 400 spores outside and 28,000 spores inside.  The seller wouldn't do his part to correct the problem the right way and let us out of the contract 4 months later - we were lucky we didn't have to fight them in court to get out.

Yes.  They have to go through the original contract and see if there is a Mold Disclosure. Not sure what count you are in but Miami-Dade county has  a "special" permit for grow houses that must be filed after it has been closed down. This protects future occupants from mold and electrical issues.



A “FLIPPER’S” FAILURE TO DISCLOSE WATER INTRUSION AND MOLD GROWTH – INSTEAD OF SELLING A HOME, THE FLIPPER BUYS A LAWSUIT

CORAL SPRINGS, November 21, 2016 – Florida law requires the seller of a residential property to disclose to the buyer facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and unknown to the buyer. Failure to discharge this duty of disclosure is deemed to be fraudulent concealment. Thus, the Florida Supreme Court recognizes a cause of action for fraudulent nondisclosure in connection with real estate transactions. Florida courts have extended the duty of disclosure to a seller’s real estate broker. This broker duty has been adopted by the Florida Legislature and codified as part of Florida Statute 475.278.


http://www.gelfandpa.com/news/2016/11/21/rising-trend-of-mold-cases-against-florida-house-flippers


https://www.miamidade.gov/permits/library/notices/grow-house-required-inspections.pdf

Dear Property Owner:
In accordance with the provisions of Section 8-5©(4) of the Code of Miami-Dade County, the structure(s) which are the subject of
unsafe structures enforcement action under the above referenced case must be approved by the Miami-Dade County Department of
Regulatory and Economic Resources based upon all of the following inspections before the structure(s) can be deemed safe for use:
(1) an electrical inspection;
(2) a plumbing inspection;
(3) an inspection by a certified Mold Inspector; and,
(4) an inspection by a Structural Engineer.

Not entirely true. In Miami-Dade County any property that has gone through foreclosure must have a new CU completed. This requires an engineer to file a report about 20 pages to the county and pay $350. The county then takes this report an opens cases for any violations or work done without a permit.  I have gone through about 5 of these after the bank did the CU submission.


https://www.miamidade.gov/business/library/instructions/foreclosed-property-questions.pdf

A. On December 2, 2008 the Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance
No. 08-133, which requires issuance of a Certificate of Use (CU) by the Department
of Planning and Zoning (DP&Z) for residential properties (in unincorporated MiamiDade
County) which are acquired through a Certificate of Title (Foreclosures and
Judgments), in accordance with Chapter 45, Florida Statutes. This new ordinance
requires the establishment of a new Certificate of Use process for such properties.
This process will require that affected individuals/institutions obtain a CU, prior to the
offering of such property either through a sale, transfer or alienation of such property.

This property is in Pembroke Pines, Broward.
The family moved back to their rental house as they have it until end of September...fortunately it's only a mile or so away.

Usually is the key word.

Depending on how it was acquired by the selling real estate firm, they may not have known about the mold. If this were the case, and they have no requirement to perform due diligence (if, for example, they are selling with FNMA) then there would be no disclosure. Miami-Dade does have special rules, but they are not in Miami-Dade.

I used to work very closely with a FNMA real estate brokerage. There was a house that the former owner was put on her knees and executed in the living room. The blood was still on the carpet. She obviously couldn't pay her mortgage anymore. Went into foreclosure. FNMA replaced the carpet. Painted the walls. New owners are blissfully unaware. It's not illegal, and in fact the agents working for FNMA are forbidden from telling buyers "hearsay"...even if they read it on a news report. It's totally crazy and outside what any other listing agent would have to do.

Per the OP the bank performed the work on the mold mediation or had a contractor do it for them. They had "known" electrical issues and water issues which are part of the requirements for disclosure. This would require permits furthermore makes the bank aware of the issues and its responbility to disclose it per FS 475.278. This is not the same as replacing carpet for some blood which under section  689.25 does not require disclosure. I have included some information below on this specific subject and a lawsuit.

I would contact the title agent that did the closing and do some verifying. I would also do a permit search on the property to verify that the bank or contractor pulled permits to properly repair the property. If there is no permits pulled than the bank could have more issues for themselves.


Q: I represent a seller in a transaction. The seller learned after buying the property that it was the site of a murder-suicide years ago. Must this event be disclosed to a prospective buyer even though this murder-suicide did not occur during the seller’s ownership of the property?

A: No. Under Section 689.25(1)(b), Florida Statutes, a homicide, suicide, or death that occurred on the property is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.


A “FLIPPER’S” FAILURE TO DISCLOSE WATER INTRUSION AND MOLD GROWTH – INSTEAD OF SELLING A HOME, THE FLIPPER BUYS A LAWSUIT

CORAL SPRINGS, November 21, 2016 – Florida law requires the seller of a residential property to disclose to the buyer facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and unknown to the buyer. Failure to discharge this duty of disclosure is deemed to be fraudulent concealment. Thus, the Florida Supreme Court recognizes a cause of action for fraudulent nondisclosure in connection with real estate transactions. Florida courts have extended the duty of disclosure to a seller’s real estate broker. This broker duty has been adopted by the Florida Legislature and codified as part of Florida Statute 475.278.
There can be no better real-life example of the dangers of a buyer’s purchase of a “flipped” home than a lawsuit brought by Mr. Gelfand in Broward County Circuit Court on behalf of Lighthouse Point resident Ed Weber.

The suit arises out of the mold infestation of Weber’s Lighthouse Point home which, he alleges, was covered up by the defendant “flipper” by painting over all interior walls to hide signs of water intrusion and mold growth which were never disclosed to Weber by the “flipper.” Weber became increasingly ill after purchasing the home, as the water intrusion and mold growth began to bleed through the coating of paint intended to cover it up.

The suit alleges that, as a result of inhaling the mold-infested indoor air in the home, Weber has suffered severe adverse health consequences including “chronic coughing, chest congestion, wheezing, shortness of breath, exacerbation and/or onset of asthma, allergic rhinitis, secondary upper respiratory infections, rashes, prolonged fevers, fatigue and myalgia, chronic vertigo, hearing loss, Tinnitus, aural fullness, and, upon information and belief, Meneire’s disease.

Mr. Gelfand stated that industrial hygiene experts have already isolated and identified the various species of mold found in the house and that mold health experts have examined Mr. Weber and have attributed his health symptoms to the mold in his home. “This case is all too typical in Florida and elsewhere where “flipping” has become a popular home investment occupation” stated Mr. Gelfand. He went on to state, “All Florida homebuyers should be extremely careful when purchasing a “flipped” home, and should insist upon complete disclosure of water leaks and potential sources of mold growth.”

I see no reason why seller has to reveal about murder/suicide to buyer...it doesn't have any direct relevance on the value of the property.
Anyway, there is no legal reason to reveal such information or HIV history per FS. 689.25 which states:

689.25 Failure to disclose homicide, suicide, deaths, or diagnosis of HIV or AIDS infection in an occupant of real property.—
(1)(a) The fact that an occupant of real property is infected or has been infected with human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.
(b) The fact that a property was, or was at any time suspected to have been, the site of a homicide, suicide, or death is not a material fact that must be disclosed in a real estate transaction.
(2) A cause of action shall not arise against an owner of real property, his or her agent, an agent of a transferee of real property, or a person licensed under chapter 475 for the failure to disclose to the transferee that the property was or was suspected to have been the site of a homicide, suicide, or death or that an occupant of that property was infected with human immunodeficiency virus or diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Yes, correct.  They had known electrical and water issue.
After SWAT team entered the building and arrested the occupant they had everybody get out of the house due to danger of electrocution from all the "jerry" rigged electrical and water/plumbing in the house to operate hydroponic growing system.  FPL and city water dept. had to come and disconnect the electrical and cut off the water.  Electricity wasn't reconnected until recently as workers who tore out the interiors used generators to run lights inside the house and guys who built it back later used generators to power their tools.

Did anyone bother to ask ??
DOES THE HOUSE HAVE MOLD NOW????

Sound off

I would assume that when the bank had the house gutted that they had any mold problem taken care of. Not sure what the issue is.