Metro woman suing multiple parties amid issues with her home
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A metro woman said her home turned into a house of horrors only about a month after she bought it.
She alleges that inspectors told her things were pretty much good to go, but mold inside made her sick, while flooding issues and crumbling walls have led to a lawsuit.
"This is where most of the mold is inside of the walls,” Miranda Augusta said pointing to the south side of her home.
Augusta is going on year three inside her northwest Oklahoma City home and several problems have plagued her for about that same amount of time.
"You can literally feel the water there,” she said showing KFOR a wall in her home. “Then, down here, it's all crumbling again."
She bought the house near Meridian and Memorial in 2022.
"It's in a perfect neighborhood, easy access to the highway,” she said.
She had an inspection done that showed they found no significant safety concerns. They only found minor issues or moderate recommendations that can be fixed at a cost “somewhat reasonable.” The company does add in the inspection that those issues should be addressed A.S.A.P. and they were in areas like common stone cracking outside, moderate floor cracking, some smaller areas of wood rot and a bit of HVAC issues.
They also noticed a mold like substance observed and recommended a mold inspection be done. But with nothing coded in red on the report, Augusta perceived it to be a green light to buy.
"How long was everything great,” we asked her.
“A month," she said.
It was only 30 days in when flooding, crumbling walls with cracks caulked over, a mold inspection finding fungi in multiple places and even a couple gas leaks and more, turned the tables quickly.
"It's just one thing after another, after another after another,” she said.
Her vents are also collapsed and water stains can even be seen on the walls near a puddled backyard and side area by her garage.
"I reached out to the inspection company and was asking like, where do I stand?” she said. “I don't have all the money to fix that."
After tens of thousands of dollars in efforting to fix the problems, she now has carpet pulled in the rooms and tile pulled in the kitchen. Her family also moved to the opposite side of the house away from the mold.
She decided to file a lawsuit against the inspection team, a realtor and the previous owners, which is still ongoing.
Augusta has had asthma since age 5. Her doctor wrote a letter to the court saying that the mold made her symptoms worse and added that she showed “decreased lung function.” She was prescribed medication including multiple inhalers, but they “cannot observe marked improvement unless excessive mold spores that are present in the home are eradicated.”
"I'm ready to give the house back or something. Something's got to go,” she said. “It's just not really safe for my children and I to live here."
News 4 reached out to all parties involved in the lawsuit. Icon Realty represented the sellers named in the lawsuit as Scott and Tisha Phipps. We approached them at there home and they told us they had no comment. Realtor David Smith with Icon Realty did send us a statement that you can read in full below.
Icon Realty was not a party to the previous sale of the home when Scott Phipps purchased it and had no knowledge of the condition of the property. Icon Realty followed the rules regarding Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act. A Property Condition Disclaimer is used when these conditions are met: 1) Seller has no knowledge of any defects. 2) Seller never lived or occupied the property. Both of those conditions were true at the time at the time Icon Realty listed the property for sale.
David Smith, Icon Realty
The lawsuit alleges that the disclaimer is false and misleading, however. It claims both of them knew of defects, only concealing and misrepresenting the properties condition.
Red Bud Inspections did the original look through. The lawsuit alleges they should have found more issues and they told KFOR there is not much they can say due to the litigation, but they sent a statement as well that you can read in full below.
We understand that home inspections are an important step in the home-buying process, and we take our responsibility to our clients very seriously. Due to ongoing litigation, we are limited in what we can share at this time, but we are confident in the thoroughness of our inspection and our adherence to industry standards. We are committed to a fair and just resolution through the legal process.
Red Bud Inspections
The lawsuit is ongoing and we’ll keep you up to date as it moves through the courts. Below is the state statute regarding home inspections in Oklahoma.