Realtor Barbara Van Horn 'who sold snake house' wants $2m lawsuit dismissed

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Barbara Van Horn wants the suit thrown out because her sale contract states both parties must first try to settle a dispute through 'mediation'
Jody and Jeff Brooks found eight black snakes and numerous skins, trails and feces months after moving in their $410,000 Annapolis home
After spending $50,000 unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the snakes, they were eventually forced to move in with relatives
Claim Van Horn never gave them certain pest inspection documents but said people had come to look at the home and found 'no problem'
Previous tenants of the home contacted the family and said they had also seen the snakes

By Anneta Konstantinides and Lydia Warren For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:25 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 16:43 EST, 9 July 2015

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Maryland realtor Barbara Van Horn has asked the court to throw out a $2m lawsuit from a couple who claims she sold them a snake-infested home

A Maryland real estate agent has asked the court to throw out a $2million lawsuit from a couple who claims she sold them a home without telling them it was infested with snakes.

Jody and Jeff Brooks and their two children found eight black rat snakes, numerous snake skins and trails of snake feces just months after moving into their $410,000 Annapolis home.

They are now suing realtor Barbara Van Horn and her mother Joan Broseker, the former owner of the house, and are seeking $2million or the opportunity to rescind their purchase and return the house.

Last week Van Horn filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that one of the clauses in the sale contract, which states that both parties must first try and settle a dispute through mediation, was not followed.

'Neither party shall commence any action in court without first mediating the dispute,' states the sale contract obtained by Capital Gazette.

It was the Brooks' son Dylan who first spotted a 3-foot snake coming out of their house last April. Snake dens and tunnels were then found by inspectors in the home's walls, according to the lawsuit.

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Forced out: Jody and Jeffrey Brooks, pictured, claim Van Horn knew about the snake problem before she sold them the $410,000 Annapolis home last December

They found eight black rat snakes, numerous snake skins and trails of snake feces just months after moving into the home

Horrifying: A photograph shows a collection of snake skins that the couple has found in the home

Speaking to WUSA9, Mrs Brooks said they had been petrified that the snakes might mistake their seven-month-old daughter, Lilly, for vermin and slither into her crib at night.

Mr Brooks started carrying a machete around the home to kill any snakes that he came across in order to keep them away from his daughter and son, four-year-old Thomas.

'I couldn't come back here,' he said.

Once they began airing their grievances, they were contacted by other families who had previously lived at the home and suffered the same nightmare - one even called it the 'snake house'.

A plumber hired by Van Horn who came to the house in May 2014 to fix a sewage backup filed a complaint that said there was a 'nest of snakes' in the basement.

A local pest company, Home Paramount, said the infestation was unlike anything they had seen.

Family sues realtor over snake infestation in new home

See more at Fox Baltimore

Creepy: A couple of dead baby snakes can be seen on a glue trap that was placed in the home's basement

Terrifying: The longest snake they found was a seven-foot black rat snake in the basement

Fed up: Jody and Jeff Brooks talk about their snake problem inside the home they have been forced to leave

When they advised the couple to tear down walls in the home to look for problem areas, they found tracks the snakes used to move around the home, as well as feces and skins, the lawsuit said.

Even if they did clean out the home of snakes, there is no guarantee they would not return, the couple's attorney said.

The couple said Van Horn never gave them certain pest inspection documents and said 'the world' had come to look at the house and found 'no problem'.

Court papers also claim that Van Horn would 'personally unlock the home and turn on the lights and, upon information and belief, check for snake activity before anyone entered,' while acting as the home's listing agent.

The Brooks temporarily lived with family in the same neighborhood after moving out of the house and have since found a local rental, which was offered as a discount after hearing their story.

At the ready: Jeff Brooks, armed with a machete and a cell phone flash light, looks into an area he believes is one of the snake nests in the basement of his family's now-abandoned home