Some time ago, a friend of mine hired a buyer's advocate to find him an Art Deco apartment in Elwood, Vic, which he ended up buying. The agent charged around $10K but he found a lovely one bedder in a nice street. However, there was a problem with this apartment: unbearable rising damp. They had two tenants that moved out after breaking the lease as the flat was mould infested. Is the BA responsible for not researching adequately or is my friend responsible? Or might it be a body corporate responsibility? And if he decides to get rid of it, is he responsible to disclose this problem to the new prospective buyers?
If the damp etc was missed in the building inspection report then the building inspector would be liable. Not the buyers agent. If you know about an existing problem, it should be disclosed but the onus is on the purchaser to get an inspection report done.
It is your friend's responsibility for not having a qualified building inspector assess the apartment. It is not the BA's responsibility, role or qualification to assess any structural or maintenance issues. The body corporate may be able to assist if the damp is rising from a part of the building that is controlled/responsibility of the body corp.
Agree with the previous posts. Also, a dumb could develop any time due to a water leak or poor ventilation (some tenants never ventilate the apartment). Is the apartment on the top floor? If the mold is mostly confined to the bathroom? Even if it isn't, a bathroom fan will help. Maybe a simple fan installation (connected in parallel to the bathroom light) could solve the problem.