The Situation

Read the above with the heavy Russian accent, okay?

I didn't let it ruin my Shavuos. I'll go that far. But it wasn't fun.

So, about the mold, or at least, the mold-that-might-be.

There is a wet spot in the basement ceiling below the main bathroom that has clearly been soaking wet for at least a month and has obviously been patched with new drywall at least twice. The toilet has either overflowed multiple times, or the plumbing is leaking. The inspector told me this was a mold hazard, and I should get the seller to rip out the drywall and let me look behind to see what, if anything, is growing back there. There's no evidence of scary mold, but then, I can't see through the drywall, and anything that has been wet that long probably has wildlife in it. Nothing is growing on the outside, and I can't see anything through the cracks, but I want to be sure. So the seller is supposed to rip out the drywall and let us look.

However, the seller keeps not getting around to opening up the drywall, because (he says) the tenant, who has a small baby, does not want it done while they are home, and there hasn't been a good time.

I would like to think that this is the truth. I would like to think that he has not been re-patching the drywall over hideous black death. However, I have not seen this for myself, the attorney review period ended tonight, and since I could do nothing Monday or Tuesday due to Shavuos, Sunday was a very stressful day of trying to, finally, get in there to see what was going on. Nobody returned calls, and throughout the day, nobody continued to return calls. So finally I called my agent, and we just showed up at the door to see the basement ceiling which... had not been opened up. Two hours before candlelighting, and the point at which I could do no more.

Frantic calls to attorney. Frantic email to attorney. No success in reaching attorney. Gritting of teeth. Lighting of candles. Futile attempts Not To Think About It. For two. Whole. Days.

When yom tov went out, an hour and a half ago, I checked my phone, which had been beeping for two days. The message was from my father-in-law. I looked at the land line messages, since that phone had also been flashing. Nothing. No email. Called agent, and she told me that she had a letter from attorney that she had not seen before Shabbos (gah! this was all avoidable!) that was written in such a way that if the house turned out to be riddled with mold and we pulled out, they would have to give us our money back. Probably. She thinks.

Did I mention that she got this letter BEFORE I wrote the check for the $9,000 balance of the earnest money? So now, if it turns out there is mold, I will be trying to get back not one thousand dollars, but ten?

No mold. No mold. Please, please, please, no mold.

ohmmmmmmm...