It’s the kind of stuff you see in scary movies — creepy crawlers slithering up the walls while you’re sleeping. Unfortunately for one Maryland family, the nightmare became a reality when they found a snake infestation in their home.
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The new homeowners are now taking action against the previous homeowners and real estate agent, claiming that they knew about the snakes before they sold them the house.
The Washington Post reported that it started when the family’s 4-year-old son spotted a black snake hanging in the entry way of their Annapolis home. A week later the couple found a seven-foot black rat snake. Then they found another, and another, and another, until it was clear that they definitely had a snake issue that wasn’t going away.
The couple called a contractor and a snake inspector who gutted the entire basement, and the two men informed the family that the house was indeed infested with snakes and was not suitable for their child. The family moved in with relatives after having only lived in the snake-infested home for four months.
The homeowners are suing the previous owner and the real estate agent, who also happens to be the previous owner’s daughter. They are claiming that both the previous owner and family realtor both knew the house was infested and hid it from the family to make a sale.
The family stated that they heard snake rumors from the neighbors but when they asked the real estate agent, she assured them that they had hired a pest-control company to do a “snake away” treatment and there was no snake activity.
However, the lawsuit claims that was just a part of an act. The lawsuit is seeking a total of $2 million in damages, claiming that the snake infestation was so terrible that the inspector claimed there was snake “highways” in the basement — meaning the reptiles formed almost a road-like path used regularly to get around the house.
Though black rat snakes aren’t fatal or venomous, the family states they’ve suffered respiratory problems due to the amount of snake feces in the home and have decided they will not be moving back into the home. The realtor’s lawyer was unable to comment when The Washington Post contacted them, due to the ongoing litigation.
