Seller Painted Over Mould!

ShadyCharacter

Hello everybody,

I recently bought a house and have only now discovered that the seller had painted over mould! So I just wanted to ask on here, from somebody who knows - is this illegal to do? Am I able to take any kind of legal action against them for covering up a serious problem like that just to get a sale? Do I have any rights at all?

Thanks a lot to anybody who can help or guide me in this situation!

SC

Cakeguts

What did your survey say about the damp that caused the mould?

shteca

I would speak to the surveyor that you used. I would have thought that was his responsibility to point out if you paid for a mound survey.

martinthebandit

How recently is recently?

kinger101

It isn't illegal to paint over mould. There's very little a seller has to tell you. It's limited to the contents of the TA6 form, and any questions you ask them. You have absolutely no comeback on them unless it relates to a flooding of which they didn't make you aware (seems unlikely).

The only person you may have a comeback on is a surveyor, but proving they were negligent is a slow process and perhaps only worth the effort if defects should have been obvious to someone reasonably competent , and costs thousands to remedy. I suspect any survey you had have said.....blah blah blah......damp......blah blah blah.....inconclusive......blah blah blah .......recommend a specialist survey.

Red-Squirrel_2

People do stuff like this all the time. It really is buyer beware when buying houses in the UK, especially England and Wales.

kev25v6

Just coat it in bleach over night and it will kill it off.

Detroit

How do you know they painted over mould? Do you mean you can see mould through the paint when you look closely?

Or are you saying mould has started to grow on freshly painted walls and you're assuming it was there before?

Mould is often not caused by major damp issues. It's very common when a house is not adequately heated and ventilated.

Clean it off with mould and mildew remover then repaint. Keep the room warm and aired and see if that resolves it.

ProDave

Most mould is down to lifestyle, not heating the place warm enough, not ventilating enough, making excessive moisture in the first place.

e.g. we had a rental flat for over 10 years. In all that time we only had one issue of condensation and mould. Every other tenant had no issues at all. So just because the last owner had a problem does not mean you will.

Davesnave

ShadyCharacter wrote: »

Do I have any rights at all?

You have the right to spend time determining the cause of the mould, but you have no right to assume that the vendor painted over mould, because you have no proof of what was there before they painted.

Davesnave

shteca wrote: »

I would speak to the surveyor that you used. I would have thought that was his responsibility to point out if you paid for a mound survey.

There are female surveyors too, though I wouldn't ask them for a 'mound survey' unless I knew them quite well.