First Steps About Mold in a North Charleston Home
Health first.
- Tell your doctors about the mold.
- Keep every test and follow-up.
- Don't scrape mold for evidence.
- Heavy growth? Bring in a professional.
- Photograph stains, leaks, ceilings, ruined belongings.
- Reshoot every few weeks.
- Write a dated timeline.
- Save texts, emails and portal requests.
- Keep inspection reports and invoices.
- Don't sign yet.
Mold in North Charleston Homes
North Charleston summers are long, wet and sticky, and air conditioners run for months. Rentals off Rivers Avenue and Dorchester Road and older houses around Park Circle see roof leaks, plumbing leaks and clogged AC drain lines. Newer subdivisions can have flashing or waterproofing failures.
South Carolina Law on Mold Claims
Landlords and Tenants
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.2 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.3 A toxic exposure or mold claim generally requires more than showing that a substance was present.1
Time to File
Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.4 Simply opening a claim with an insurance company does not stop the statute of limitations from running.5 That three-year period generally begins when a person knew or, through reasonable diligence, should have known that they had a potentially actionable injury.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.78
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.9
Our statewide page explains how mold claims work in South Carolina.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Talk With Us
When did the first stain show up? Who did you tell? What have your doctors said? If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
We take cases across South Carolina, including North Charleston. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. Carbon monoxide or a chemical instead? See our North Charleston toxic exposure page.
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 it for years. Too late?
Possibly not, but don't guess. 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.6 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
My landlord just painted over it. Now what?
Photograph it, including spots that bleed back through. Keep written repair requests and replies. Under South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, tenants may have remedies when a landlord does not correct qualifying noncompliance. Specific notice requirements may apply before ending a lease.3 Talk to a lawyer before moving out or withholding rent.
There's mold here. Did it make me sick?
Not necessarily. Exposure does not automatically establish that someone is legally responsible for a medical condition.1 Your history, symptoms and other causes all get weighed.
Do I need a doctor's note before calling?
No. Call while treatment continues. Mention the water damage to your doctor.
Do I have to come downtown to talk?
The first conversation can happen by phone. Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston, south of North Charleston by way of I-26 or Rivers Avenue. If you can't easily get downtown, we're glad to meet you at the hospital, at your house or wherever is convenient.
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.
