Hollywood certainly has seen its fair share of celebrity legal battles, some more shocking than others, but it looks like one is wrapping up after a few years' struggle. Transformers actress Megan Fox has apparently been at the accusing side of a lawsuit against the manager of Brad Pitt (who is no stranger to court himself) over a house he sold to Fox. The actress is claiming the over $3 million dollar house was riddled with leaks and mold. After 3 long years, it appears a decision on the multi-million dollar lawsuit has finally been reached.
Discovering mold in your new home is never a positive thing, and I’d imagine if I spend millions of dollars on a home I would be livid if it wasn’t pretty perfect - least of all hazardous to my health. That’s exactly what Megan Fox seems to think as well, because she sued Brad Pitt’s manager Cynthia Pett-Dante for 5 million dollars, which is around a million more than the cost of the home plus the 500k she put into it to get rid of the hazardous mold issues.
While this number may seem a bit steep, Megan Fox also claimed that in addition to the inconvenience and cost of mold remediation, the house had serious effects to her health including constant migraines and heavy stress. According to Daily Mail, though, the judge presiding over the case didn’t seem to think Fox had much ground to stand on in the case.
Judge David Soleto ruled in favor of Cynthia Pett-Dante, granting her a motion for summary judgement. Basically, this means that either party in the case could try to settle the case before going to trial, and the judge siding with the defendant would give Megan Fox a slim chance of victory in court. Pett-Dante offered to settle for $100,000 and Fox accepted the amount, even though it was a mere fraction of what the actress sought in the lawsuit.
The decision may come as a surprise to some, but not when you look at the evidence against Megan Fox and the warnings she received before her purchase of the home. Apparently Fox went against the judgement of her real estate lawyer in buying the home, and admitted to not reading the reports and inspections she was sent in regards to the home. But she maintains she paid people to do that for her and advise her accordingly. While that may be true enough, it doesn’t appear that Fox listened to those who did advise her on the documents. Her real estate lawyer apparently told her it was an ill-advised and risky purchase - but Fox ended up suing him as well.
Buying a home is always a risk, even when there are inspections and reports on the home done prior to purchase. While it’s shocking that a multi-million dollar home would have sprung leaks and become moldy, it does prove that even the rich and famous should do their due diligence before making such a large, and potentially health hazardous, purchase - especially when it doesn’t work out for them in court.
