Dear George: My wife and I have been renting a 40-year-old home. It is pier and beam construction. I recently informed our landlord that the house was not sitting squarely on the piers. He sent a contractor out. While inspecting beneath the home the contractor found "black mold."

As a result, the landlord has notified us that we must, at our expense, completely move out everything before our lease expires. After three months we can move back in, also at our expense. Is our landlord pocketing money his insurance company is paying him to cover our costs? -- Need To Know

Dear Need To Know: I am hoping you have a written lease agreement. In any event, you should hire an attorney. It seems to me that you folks are getting a raw deal from your landlord.

Dear George:We had a contract to buy a home. Everything seemed to going fine until we had an inspection. Several major items turned up that we needed to have repaired. We began approaching the expiration of the option period in the contract. Our agent assured us that the sellers were going to work with us as to the repairs. The option period expired.

The sellers then said they would repair some items but not others. We did not accept that proposal. Now the sellers are saying we must buy the house or be in default on our contract. Is the seller not responsible for making the repairs an inspector says are necessary? We"re confused by this whole process! -- Confused

Dear Confused: What does your contract say? With appropriate language, your agent should have advised you to amend the contract. It could have required the Seller's to make the repairs called out by your inspector. The seller's would either sign the Amendment or you terminate the contract. Once the Option Period expires with no written modifications to the contract signed by both parties, you are left with the terms and provisions specified in the original contract.

Dear George: I am a Texas real estate broker. I plan to move to Arkansas. Can you tell me if there is a reciprocal agreement dealing with real estate licensure between Texas and Arkansas or will I have to take another exam in Arkansas? -- Moving

Dear Moving: To my knowledge, Texas does not have "reciprocal licensing agreements" with any other state. The best way to tell for sure is to contact the Arkansas Real Estate Commission. Its phone number in Little Rock is 501-683-8010. You want to speak with the Licensing division. Or, you can e-mail the licensing division.

Dear George: We closed on our new construction home several months ago. Since then we have discovered the builder did not pay some of the subcontractors. One has already filed a lien against our home. We also placed wood flooring in several rooms. It turned out to be defective. Representatives from the manufacturer and local supplier (who is also the installer) agree it should be replaced. However, the builder has not paid them either.

What rights and obligations do we, as homeowners, have? What should we be doing about the lien? Do we have any recourse against the flooring manufacturer or supplier? -- Between A Rock

Dear Between A Rock: You need to consult an attorney as soon as possible. Builders are normally required to sign a document at the Title Company stating that all claims against the property have been paid and that there are no "unpaid" bills. It appears your builder might not have been entirely truthful at your closing.

George Stephens welcomes your questions by e-mail. Because of the volume of mail received, questions cannot be answered individually. Mr. Stephens is not a lawyer and this column does not contain legal advice. If you wish to obtain legal advice, please consult with an attorney or legal clinic.

Published: May 18, 2001

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

George C. Stephens, CRB is the Broker of deRaat Stephens, Inc. dba ERA Stephens Properties and the Director of Compliance for eRealty, Inc. Stephens served as 1998 Chairman of the 13,000+ member Houston Association of REALTORS® and is the Vice Chairman of HAR’s wholly owned subsidiary, e-Har, Inc. He is the 2001 Secretary/Treasurer of the 50,000+ member Texas Association of REALTORS® and TAR’s 2002 Chairman-Elect. Stephens holds a Texas Real Estate Broker license as well as a Texas Mortgage Broker License.