Urgent Construction and Legal Advice Needed

[Shirin Namavar]

Dear all,

We’re dealing with a serious issue in our home and would greatly appreciate both legal and construction-related advice.

We bought a flipped house in 2021, renovated by a company in 2020. Our vinyl flooring is now cracking and detaching, and the subfloor is warped. We discovered that all crawl space vents had been sealed, leading to severe moisture buildup, extensive mold, and damage—now also affecting our tenants’ health.

We need guidance on:

• - Is the home still safe to live in after opening the vents and potentially disturbing black mold?
• - Can we take legal action against the renovation company for unpermitted structural changes and code violations?
• - Can the home inspector be held liable for missing these issues during two visits?
• - Do lawyers handle these types of cases on contingency? Any referrals in the DFW area?

Any insight or recommendations would mean a lot.

Best regards, Shirin

[Russell Brazil]

1) Home Inspectors are looking for existing problems. They are not code inspectors.

2) You are unlikely to be able to take action for several reasons. Once you close on the property, that's typically it. Additionally the statute of limitations for most civil matters in most states is 3 years, which you are past.

3) No you won't find a lawyer to take this on contingency. You probably won't even find one to take it with hourly billing.