Anonymous wrote:Legally though there is no recourse? unless I had moved their 200lb furniture during my inspection, there's nothing to be done?
Consult with a VA real estate attorney. Although VA is a
caveat emptor state, the rule of caveat emptor usually says that they make no guarantees, but they are not allowed to deliberately hide a fault that they know about. I believe you said that they had had some work done several months back that would have necessitated moving the desk, so that it was clear that they knew about the issue. If they knew about an issue and deliberately moved a large desk to cover the issue and then asked to leave that desk, it certainly sounds like a deliberate cover-up of a known issue. I believe in that case, you might be entitled to redress, e.g. having them pay some or all of the cost of mold remediation (not replacing carpets). But each state is slightly different. That's why you need a VA real estate attorney who can advise you on how the law would cover such a situation.