I-Team: 'Newly-renovated' House Turns Out To Be Mold House

By: Randy Travis

Aired: Sep 27 2018

SENOIA, Ga. - The FOX 5 I-Team wants to know how a newly-renovated Fayette County home could have massive amounts of mold and termite damage hidden behind the new drywall.

The new owners paid a home inspector before they closed on the house, but he told the FOX 5 I-Team the only way to find that damage would have been to pull off pieces of the wall.

So how did all this damage get there? And did anyone know before the house was sold to this frustrated family?

Since August, the Hoppaugh family has not been living in the house they bought, but in the driveway of that house. Their home? An RV.

“It breaks my heart,” admitted Shelley Hoppaugh.

She says it's not just that her family can't sleep in the house. They can barely walk through the front door without donning respirator masks. I wore one, too, as she gave me a tour of the home.

Once inside, the smell still worked its way through the mask. A noxious smell, as if someone had left behind a dead body.

“Did it smell this bad when you moved in?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "Not at all.”

In fact, when Shelley and David Hoppaugh closed on the Senoia house in May, it looked attractive. The listing gushed with attractive details:

“this beautiful home has just been renovated.”

“brand new paint, new floors, new fixtures, new countertops.”

Then David decided to replace the kitchen cabinets because they were too dark for Shelley. That decision... would reveal the truth.

“When my husband took it off, it was just hideous," Shelley recounted. "It was terrible.”

She says they found mold hidden by a piece of plywood stained to match the cabinets. Then...

“During the process of taking the cabinets out, the linoleum ripped.”

So they decided to replace the kitchen floor. More mold underneath. And it smelled...

“Wet," she explained. "Like someone had died in our house. I mean it was just bad. And it just kept getting stronger and stronger.”

They tore off some of the dry wall. More mold... and then a new shock. Several of the studs had been eaten by termites. Yet whoever renovated the home still put new screws into boards attached to the damage.

The FOX 5 I-Team talked to the head of the company that provides water service to this neighborhood. He confirmed the previous owner had repeated water pipe leaks throughout the house before the bank ultimately foreclosed. That bank sold the property to an Atlanta firm called Jar House, a “boutique real estate brokerage” firm that buys an average of 75 properties each month, fixes them up and resells them.

According to sales records, Jar House paid $76,000 for this house. It sold it to the Hoppaughs for $189,900.

Their young son is now being treated for a mysterious foot injury. His family believes it was caused by him running barefoot through their house. Tests revealed ten different molds growing inside, including “three toxic forms.”

“It really breaks my heart because we were looking forward to a dream home," Shelley said fighting back tears. "Maybe it's not everybody's dream home, but it's our dream home.”

We reached out to Jar House owner Zareh Najarian to explain how they sold a house with so much hidden damage. We got a response back from their attorney saying “we are investigating.”

“We're terribly sorry that the Hoppaughs' son is suffering,” the statement read. The company pointed out the Hoppaughs bought the house “as is” and “we encourage potential purchasers to hire an inspector to evaluate the condition of the home.”

“Even when you sell a home to someone as is, you're not allowed to conceal known latent defects," pointed out Jason Crawford, a Columbus attorney the Hoppaughs hired to handle this. “The inspector didn't even find this damage. And the only way he would have if you were ripping out walls and ripping at cabinets. And inspectors just don't do that.”

Crawford sent Jar House a letter asking them to buy back the house. When the deadline passed with no agreement, they sued... accusing Jar House of concealing the damage.

Jar House has not responded yet to the lawsuit or our questions about it.

So for now, one family continues to pay the mortgage on a house that's not their home, instead living in their driveway, just out of range of the smell.

[truegrit]

OK - the sellers are pure evil. They could care less what happens to this family.

[IvanRossS]

Wow... that's unfixable.. the whole house needs to be torn down... I think they need to sue inspectors company and their insurance have to pay for the whole new house

[darrelldarrell]

They need criminal charges files against them.

[kingcrimson]

When you know something is wrong and intentionally cover it up, you're to blame for this. It wasn't sold "as is" they know it was moldy and had termites in it. I feel really bad for the family

[Lilmiket]

come on y'all know when you buy a new or newly renovated house that it smells so much like paint and drywall. I could easily see why they didn't initially smell the mold! This is common that people are out here selling houses that should be torn down. there needs to be an insurance for this situation because too many people are being shitted out of life. And yes a lot still get past inspectors because they can't rip holes in your house unfortunately. Best way to protect yourself is knowing some history.

[xIIx]

Update: This news channel released another interview a few months later with the owner of JAR House (the seller). More families came out with similar cases - recently bought houses that turned out to have severe mold, flood, and septic tank issues. The owner of the broker firm was unapologetic and claimed the state of GA is a "buyer beware" state and the buyers of those houses "didn't do their homework". This particular case shown in this video was settled, "Since this story first aired both sides have reached a settlement. Terms were not disclosed.", was stated on the Fox 5 webpage.

[getoffyourbassandletsfish]

Last owners knew

Bank knew and covered over it....

[shelley]

This breaks my heart…I bought my house as is from a bank & had my house inspected and he found no problems….BUT there was a bedroom window leaking and had mold around the window & into the ceiling that could be seen & termites from hell that destroyed the wood casing around my door and the door literally fell out! Nobody would help me…We removed the mold ourselves and I’m happy to say we are mold free!

[jimbertido]

Always get an air quality test before purchasing a home. Preferably from a company that only does tests and not remodeling. Mold and radon are silent killers.

[napakamu]

Imagine if they actually moved in and lived in the house unknowingly being exposed to all that mold, especially with the young child. This is a true crime, and Jar House needs to be held responsible.

[chance]

Sounds like someone has a million dollar lawsuit

[Karlakarz]

God bless this poor family. I hope they get everything sorted out and justice is served in their favor.

[christopherbonanno]

Companies who flip houses do it on the cheap. To make money. People complain all the time about this.

[MessiahComing]

Yes, the home-owners have a responsibility to hire an inspector. But the damage was in areas that inspectors don't have access to. However, there's absolutely no way the sellers were not aware of the damage when they flipped the property. The onus is not on the inspector or the buyers. It is on the people that concealed the damage that they knew was there.

[getoffyourbassandletsfish]

No 💩 they concealed it with pretty upgrades

[FreshlySnipes]

This just happened to me. I bought my first home 3-weeks ago. Hired a reputable inspection company and they said the house looked great. We brought a contractor in to replace some wood floors and they found the slab soaking wet (the meter was maxed out on the moisture reading) and there was mold in all of the walls.

[IssaLio]

Similar thing happened to my parents and my sister. My parents bought their house and about a year after, we find out there has been a small gap between their shower and the wall where water has been seeping through and caused mold under all the wood, tile, and paint. Insurance refused to pay for it. My sister just bought a flipped house and realized a water pipe was broken and was leaking. Luckily for her she knows how to argue and got her way with the insurance

[johnnelson]

Qualified Inspectors don't have to rip out walls to find mold. Technology is available. Moisture and humidity monitors and infrared cameras have been around for years now. With that much mold and mildew, I can promise you that the humidity and moisture content of those walls would have had alarm bells ringing. And there are numerous methods for determining possible termite infestation before having to expose the actual inside of a wall. People have to educate themselves before making such a huge investment. Knowledge is power. You don't have to be an expert these days. The internet is full of information that can help the average home buyer. Research the builder, the real estate broker, and the inspectors before you settle. Reaserch the design of the house, the climate, the location. It's your money. You have a right to ask questions.

[aananda]

Sickens me to see this. What a nightmare. I think some of these so called “house flippers” love to cover up damage instead of actually repairing it. Buyer beware!

[midnightrainbow]

This happened to me and my family in Idaho. We had to live in tents in the back yard. We were sick for a few years before we found the mold hidden behind all the new remodeling.