A wealthy couple who sued a developer, claiming the mansion they'd bought for $40 million was infested with moths, have won the right to a very big refund. Iya Patarkatsishvili, the daughter of a Georgian billionaire, and her pediatric dentist husband Yevhen Hunyak, purchased Horbury Villa in west London's Ladbroke Grove neighborhood in May 2019. Believing they'd found their dream home, it came complete with a pool, spa, gym, cinema, and wine room, per CNN and the BBC. What they didn't anticipate was all the moths hidden in the insulation, which soon turned up on their food, toothbrushes, towels, and clothing.
In a lawsuit, the couple complained of having to kill dozens of moths every day. In a Monday decision, a judge found William Woodward-Fisher, the surveyor and property developer who sold the couple the home, had "concealed a serious clothes moth infestation of the insulation in the house" prior to the sale. The 68-year-old, a former rower who competed for Great Britain, was specifically asked about any vermin infestation and other possible defects and answered that he didn't know of any, CNN reports. In court, he claimed he was told that moths didn't count as vermin, per the BBC.
The court heard that Woodward-Fisher ought to have known of the problem as it was detailed in reports from pest control companies and in emails forwarded to him. His wife had reportedly noticed moths eating her clothes after new insulation was installed in 2018. Though the judge said he didn't think Woodward-Fisher was "consciously trying to deceive the claimants," he ruled Patarkatsishvili, 41, and Hunyak, 51, could return the mansion for most of the purchase price, subtracting $7.4 million to cover their years of habitation, per the Guardian. They were also awarded damages of $5 million for the infestation, including more than $18,500 for ruined clothes. (More lawsuit stories.)
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