Opinion ID: 1057648
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Mold Infestation of the House

Text: To support his motion for summary judgment, Mr. Brooks filed a sworn affidavit stating as follows: “[a]t the time of sale, I had no actual knowledge of the presence of any type of mold in the residence or any of the other buildings located on the property.” In response, the Stanfills admitted that it was undisputed that Mr. Brooks had no actual knowledge of the presence of mold in the residence at the time of sale. Therefore, the trial court was correct in granting summary judgment to Mr. Brooks on this issue. See Robinson v. Currey, 153 S.W.3d 32, 38 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004) (affirming summary judgment where the “Defendants affirmatively negated an essential element of Plaintiffs’ claim, that the alleged ‘material defects [mold and water damage] [were] known to the 4 As further discussed below, the Stanfills’ claims regarding the underground fuel storage tanks also sound in misrepresentation, as they alleged that the Defendants intentionally or negligently misrepresented that they did not know of the existence of the underground tanks on their Tennessee Residential Property Condition Disclosure form provided to the Stanfills. 5 owner’”) (second set of brackets in original) (quoting Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-5-202 (2003). To support their motion for summary judgment, Mr. and Mrs. Mountain each filed a sworn affidavit stating the following: “[a]t the time of sale, I had no actual knowledge of the presence of any type of mold in the residence or any of the other buildings located on the property.” The Mountains’ testimony effectively negated the element of knowledge, shifting the burden to the Stanfills to provide evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact on their fraudulent concealment of the mold claim. The Stanfills relied on the deposition testimony of Mrs. Stanfill and the environmental test results report indicating a toxic mold infestation in the house. Mrs. Stanfill testified in her deposition that after they moved into the house, “we started noticing black spots coming up out of the ceiling, and it was in the ceiling in the bathrooms and in the laundry room.” Mrs. Stanfill testified that it was “a few months” after they had been in the house that they started noticing the black spots, and that “I had never noticed them before, not before we bought the home. They had just started coming up out of the ceiling, coming through the paint.” The Stanfills did not provide sufficient evidence to contradict the Mountains’ assertion that they were unaware of mold in the house or to create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the Mountains knew of the existence of mold in the residence. As noted, Mrs. Stanfill testified that they did not observe the black spots of mold on the ceiling until several months after they moved in. There is no evidence that the black mold spots were present or visible at or before the time of sale of the residence. Mrs. Stanfill stated in her deposition that she didn’t know whether the Mountains knew there was a mold problem in the house, and that when the Stanfills “were talking with the neighbors about the issues with the house,” none of the neighbors mentioned that there had been a mold problem in the house. When asked whether there was “any evidence that [the Mountains] were trying to conceal the presence of mold,” Mrs. Stanfill replied, “not that I know of.” Finally, Mrs. Stanfill testified further as follows: Q: I think you also said that the actual presence of mold in the house was not something you felt like Mr. and Mrs. Mountain knew about at the time y’all contracted for the sale? A: The mold being visible? Q: Right. A: No. As is evident from the above, the Stanfills offered no facts, merely allegations, supporting their contention that the Mountains fraudulently concealed the mold. The evidence in the record is insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the Mountains knew of the presence of mold in the house. Therefore, the trial court was correct in granting the Mountains summary judgment on the claim of fraudulent concealment of the toxic mold infestation, because the Mountains, by their affidavit testimony, successfully negated the essential element of knowledge 6 of the alleged defect at the time of sale.