Seller's liability: Mold in the house?

Questioner

Hello, At the end of August 2017 I bought a house where I first painted and cleaned (laying floors, etc.) for a month. This was because I had started a new job on the same date. After renovating, I moved into the house and after about 1.5 months I discovered mold in the bathroom. After a search of several weeks I concluded that it had to be the ventilation and called in an expert. Here I came to the shocking discovery that the unit was completely dirty and clogged and had not been properly maintained for at least 2 years (according to the expert) and probably much longer. I have an inspection report of this and immediately replaced the unit because the situation was far too unhealthy due to the mold and bacteria that were in the ventilation system. Together with this inspection report and photos I have tried to hold the seller liable but he insists that this unit has always been maintained and that I can no longer hold them liable. In my opinion this defect is hidden and this is an obstacle to the normal use of the house because the unit was so unhealthy due to the pollution that it had to be replaced. Moreover, a lot of rubbish was also removed from the ventilation ducts themselves, of which I have also taken photos to demonstrate that this was the cause of the pollution and the eventual breakdown of the unit. To what extent could I hold the seller liable for this? Thank you in advance for your information and thoughts!

Lawyer

For liability, it is important that the selling party was aware of this at the time. Since this is a recognizable problem, this falls under an unlawful act and this defect must have been recognizable at the time. As such, the seller has violated his duty to disclose - pursuant to article 7: 17 BW - and is liable for the consequential damage. It is also important that the 2-year limitation period has not expired regarding the duty to notify, pursuant to article 6:89 of the Dutch Civil Code. This only commences from the time you have notified the seller of the defect. The premature complaint obligation.