Mold in garage at apt and all items had to be cleaned by professionals.I was reimbursed $5000 from insurance but total was $6500.Can I claim the out of pocket expense?

[DanielV01]

Probably not.  There are two reasons.  The first is what are known as Casualty Loss rules.  You can claim losses on disasters, but not when the damage is progressive.  (A fire is a casualty, termites are not).  Mold, while devastating, is typically progressive.

Even if it qualifies as a disaster, however, the second factor is the amount of loss.  To claim a casualty, $100 is subtracted from the net loss (Your net loss was reduced to $1500 by the insurance reimbursement and the $100 brings this down to $1400).  Then, that amount must be greater than 10% of your AGI.  If your AGI was less than 14,000, then, there might be an amount left over, but then you need to be itemizing deductions in order to get anything out of the loss.

Please see this FAQ with more information:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301959