Damp basement wall?

Hello everyone,
I have a question today regarding our "old building" from 1980.
It is a terraced house, we lived in it for about 22 years, sold it last year, and handed it over to the buyer at the beginning of this year.
He now informs us that there are damp outer walls in the basement and has provided us with an "expert report" from a sealing company, which also contains some photos of the affected walls. I will try to attach them.
He accuses us of knowing about the defect and concealing it, justifying this by the fact that individual bricks were apparently once painted over with paint.
The fact is, we never painted anything in the basement. In the said room, open rolls of woodchip wallpaper, wood remnants, and boxes were stored for months and years without any problems. Furthermore, the photos show no chipping of paint, it does not smell musty, and there is no mold.

The buyers were at the house at the time (before the purchase) with an expert, but of course, there were also things leaning against the walls, so they could not see them completely in detail, but that is normal in an inhabited property.
In any case, during the years we lived there, we never had a moisture problem in the basement.

Can anyone comment on this?
Thanks in advance!

Yes; your lawyer.

He now informs us that there are damp exterior walls in the basement... He accuses us of knowing about the defect and keeping it secret u

He first has to prove that to you. Why didn’t the expert see that during the inspection? He probably didn’t do a good job if there is really supposed to be water damage. I also think you should hire a lawyer immediately. In my opinion, the buyer is already going one step too far.

Thank you for the answers. We also find that the buyer is going too far, and of course we will immediately involve a lawyer if necessary.

The whole matter has two aspects for me. 1. We couldn’t have known that there was a moisture problem in the basement, among other things, because we had stored boxes, rolls of wallpaper, and drywall sheets in one room (hobby room, second picture), which in no way were moldy. In the other room (laundry room, first picture), I regularly hung up laundry and it usually dried in less than 24 hours.

2. I doubt that there is any problem with moisture in the walls at all. The employee of a sealing company is after all a seller of his product and not an independent expert.

We will write a response over the weekend and, if necessary, report further here.

Tell the lawyer ... I would be relaxed ....

In general, the rule is bought as seen. If you haven’t hidden anything here, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. The next step is probably the offer to reduce the purchase price, and the sealing guy is his buddy from the football club.

I would politely but firmly explain your position to him. If he wants money back, he should first contact his expert and demand the fee back...