What to Do About Mold in a Greenville Home
Your family's health comes first.
- Doctor's visit. Wheezing, sinus trouble or a child's cough that won't quit is worth an appointment; say the word mold out loud.
- Don't stir it up. Skip tearing out moldy drywall or crawling into unsafe spaces to get pictures. A whole wall of growth or a soaked crawl space is a job for a remediation company, not a weekend project.
- Visible growth on camera. Black spots on the bathroom ceiling, the bubbled paint by the window, the warped closet floor, the ruined couch. Repeat every few weeks.
- Dates in order. The first drip, the first musty smell, each call to the landlord or builder, and the answer you got.
- Keep every message. Texts, emails, maintenance requests, portal screenshots and letters.
- The house file. Home inspection from the purchase, air or swab test results, contractor invoices, the builder's warranty.
Why Mold Shows Up in Upstate Homes
Burst pipes after a hard freeze, roof leaks from summer storms, damage from Hurricane Helene, the storm that brought down trees across the Upstate, and fast-built new homes across the Golden Strip, Greer and Travelers Rest can all let water in. Ice on the roof in winter can back water under shingles too.
When a Landlord May Be Responsible
South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires landlords to make repairs and keep rental homes fit and habitable, though it generally doesn't cover short-term vacation stays.2 When a landlord doesn't fix qualifying problems, tenants may have remedies such as damages, a court order or ending the lease, depending on the circumstances.3
Exposure does not automatically establish that someone is legally responsible for a medical condition.1
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
How Long You Have to File
Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.4 That limit is for filing in court, and an open insurance claim doesn't stop it.5 The period generally starts when you knew or should have known about a potentially actionable injury.6
When mold comes from faulty construction or waterproofing, South Carolina generally imposes an eight-year outer deadline measured from substantial completion of the improvement, with possible exceptions.7 That cutoff can bar some claims even when the problem was found later.8
Claims against a state or local government agency have their own deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be damage caps.9
See our statewide toxic mold page. For chemicals, water or carbon monoxide, see toxic exposure in Greenville.
Talk With Us
We start with your timeline: when you saw the first stain, who you told and what your doctors have said.
Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. We take cases across South Carolina, including Greenville and the Upstate. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
Even if you were told mold claims go nowhere, we're glad to hear about the water, the musty rooms and the landlord's or builder's response.
South Carolina Law on This
- A toxic exposure or mold claim generally requires more than showing that a substance was present. Depending on the legal theory, evidence may be needed on how exposure occurred, whether the substance can cause the type of injury involved, and whether it caused the particular person's illness. Exposure does not automatically establish that someone is legally responsible for a medical condition.1
- South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires landlords to make repairs and keep rental homes fit and habitable. The Act generally does not cover short-term stays, such as vacation rentals, that are subject to the state's accommodations tax.2
- Under South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, tenants may have remedies when a landlord does not correct qualifying noncompliance, which depending on the circumstances may include actual damages, injunctive relief or ending the rental agreement. Specific notice requirements may apply before ending a lease.3
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.4
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.5
- South Carolina's three-year limitations period for personal injury claims generally begins when a person knew or, through reasonable diligence, should have known that they had a potentially actionable injury. A person does not necessarily need to know the precise substance responsible, every defendant or the legal theory before the clock begins running.6
- South Carolina generally imposes an eight-year outer deadline on lawsuits arising from defective or unsafe improvements to real property, measured from substantial completion of the improvement. Exceptions may apply. This deadline is separate from the ordinary statute of limitations and may prevent some claims even when the problem was discovered later.7
- Claims against builders, contractors and designers over work on real property can be cut off by a fixed outer time limit that applies no matter when the problem is discovered.8
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.9
Frequently Asked Questions
We've lived with the mold for years. Is it too late?
My landlord just painted over it. What now?
Photograph it again when the stains come back through the paint, and save every repair request and reply. Tenants may have remedies when a landlord doesn't fix qualifying problems, and specific notice requirements may apply before ending a lease.3 Get advice before you move out or hold back rent.
Does mold in the house mean it made me sick?
Not necessarily. Finding mold doesn't prove it caused a particular illness, and a claim may need medical and other evidence connecting the two.1
The mold is in a newer house in a subdivision near Simpsonville. Does that change anything?
It can. South Carolina generally imposes an eight-year outer deadline on lawsuits arising from defective improvements to real property, measured from substantial completion.7
Sources
- General South Carolina toxic tort causation principles (Sean Hall, Nov 5 review)
- S.C. Code §§ 27-40-440 and 27-40-120(4)
- S.C. Code § 27-40-610
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code § 15-3-535
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-640 and 15-3-670
- S.C. Code § 15-3-640
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
