Tenants' counter-sue

My tenant can’t make rent payment so after 2 quit notices, I had to evict her. Then she said her farther is an attorney and she refused to pay the rents or late fee. She said she want to counter-sue me because she was told there is some mold in the building, and made her daughter allergic. I asked her where the mold was, she said she was told there was mold but not sure where it was. and she said maybe in the wall or in the ceiling, but nobody found any trace of mold. Then she said maybe the mold is in attic but I have newer roof installed 3 yrs ago and 1.5 yrs ago respectively also four big vents for enough circulation. We can’t find any clue of mold, and I have never dealt with mold before. I understand my building is 26yrs old and not in perfect shape, however, if mold is that bad to cause people allergy, it must be visible somewhere. but we can’t find any clue. I haven’t checked attic by myself but maybe I should do this sometime.

My tenants threat to sue and make the building condemned but she doesn’t has any proof or test results to confirm there is mold or it is this type of mold that caused problems, nor did she give me any written requests to clean mold, if there is any. also, I don’t know if her daughter is really sick or not , how did they know the allergy was caused by mold in nowhere we can find but not by smoke ? ( she is a big heavy smoker)

Now she was coached by her attorney farther and asks for some “settlement” from me.

do I need to consult attorney?

Also, when I purchased the apartment complex and on the disclosure the seller says there is no mold. But what if we finally find mold problem which may be dangerous enough to make property condemned. can I have a case against seller ??

Any thoughts will be appreciated!

thank you in advance.

I would not communicate with her at all.

If you want piece of mind, I would hire a mold expert and have testing done. Its cost about $700.

How do I know? Just 18 months ago I had the same thing of as I evicted some folks (claimed mold). Never mind their alcohol abuse and dog feces ground into the carpet. So I had the testing done and it showed common household mold in the bathroom (they never cleaned) and the mold spore counts in the air was LOWER in the house than outside. I never got sued and these people disappeared into the ether.

Will you get sued? Probably, put it should be dismissed in pretty short order (especially if you have test data vs. her wild claims). Also, read your rental (fire) insurance policy. the atty fees will be covered under the liability section of your policy.

Your tenant’s “settlement” will be release from liability for the back rents and late fees and full refund of the security deposit.

If your tenant is threatening a lawsuit, you should be having this conversation with your attorney instead of us.