Couple Files Lawsuit, Alleging Sellers Of New Fayette Co. Home Disguised Urine Odor

A couple has filed a civil lawsuit alleging the sellers of their new home in Fayette County failed to tell them it reeked of urine to the point of making it uninhabitable.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in Fayette County, James and Terry Gilmore allege the sellers, Mardell Page and Jeffrey Sutton, disguised the odor with a fresh coat of floor varnish before a pre-purchase inspection of the house along Conway Avenue in Washington Township, according to our newspaper exchange partner The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The McKeesport couple didn't detect the problem until after they had closed on the $115,000 property in February and had moved into the home, according to their attorney.

"Immediately after the closing and after moving into the property, the plaintiff became aware of certain problems with the property, including a foul stench of urine permeating the entire house ... stench emanating from the floors, walls, joists and HVAC systems," wrote the couple's attorney in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the sellers advised the Gilmores in a disclosure statement that the hardwood floors had been sanded and varnished because of pet stains, but there was no mention of the odor. Upon moving into the house, the Gilmores "discovered an obvious and overpowering stench that renders the dwelling uninhabitable."

The Gilmores later learned that human urine also had come into contact with the walls, floors and HVAC system, according to the suit.

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