Calgary woman claims she was surprised by mould in her home following inspection

CALGARY -

A Calgary woman is sharing her tale of buying a home only to find out the property had extensive issues with mould.

Zahra Khatoon moved to Canada in 2018 in hopes of a fresh start. The mother of four worked for years to save up enough to buy in Calgary.

"So that made me think, I have to work hard to buy a house because when my children's will come, I want to give a better life to them," Khatoon told CTV News in an interview.

She bought a northeast Calgary home over the summer, but soon discovered mould throughout.

She hired a home inspector prior to moving in and said they did not find any major issues. But as soon as she started settling in, it was clear there was something wrong.

"There was a mushroom growing and the laundry room… was full of the mould," she said. "In my kitchen, under the sink, there was the mould."

A second home inspector and mould specialist confirmed that there were several areas affected, Khatoon said.

Drywall has now been ripped off the walls in the basement and in the bathrooms. Khatoon has attempted to clean up the mould from under the sinks.

Khatoon now says she feels as if she rushed into putting in an offer on the home and alleges the first home inspector, who was licensed, didn't properly warn her of potential issues with the property.

The president of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI) said Khatoon's case highlights the importance of hiring a licensed professional and taking the time to further check references and reviews.

"Hopefully we can turn this around and say, 'You know what people, hire the right people, the qualified people.' Alberta has a licensing system on purpose because there were some bad things that went down," said Peter Weeks, CAHPI president.

B.C. is the only other province that possesses a licensing system for home inspectors.

You can consult Alberta’s online directory here.