when i bought the house i was told there was water in the basement only with a quick thaw after winter, well so far the basement leaks and i removed some of the wall furnishings that had been screwed to the walls and i found a large crack in the wall, i also had a guy come and look at the basement and he said it looked like they previous owners tried to hide the water problems also it would cost almost 10,000 to fix the basement, i also now have plumbing problems with both of the bathrooms i need advice and any info u can give as to what would be the best action to take
2007-05-30 08:42:00 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Contact the home inspection service that did the inspection before you bought the house and ask them which course of action you should take. Unfortunately, if there was nothing in writing you might have a difficult time making them assume responsibility. Also contact a real estate lawyer.
If you didn't have an inspection and rating, then whoever sold you the house did so illegally because I don't think in any state you can make a transaction to purchase a dwelling without it being inspected.
It's along the same lines of when we bought ours, there were crooked dealings with the 30 thousand dollar jack of the price because of the extensive termite damage this home sustained four years before we bought it. The termite damage was never mentioned and instead of repairing it and sucking up the costs, he tacked it onto the price of the house without informing us.
The biggest selling point of our home happened to be the wooded patch behind it that he swore up and down wasn't going to be developed. A year after we moved in, I had my *** out there standing in front of bulldozers because they were going over the property boundary within that ten foot mark that cannot be dozed on the immediate boundary.
Sorry if I didn't have anything to help a lot but I will be watching this question for answers (as well as giving it a star) because I'd be curious to know what you can do and if we can bring charges for misleading someone and duping them into the sale of a house.
I'm recently I'm starting to think real estate agents are more crooked and bigger liars than lawyers.
2007-05-30 08:56:50 · answer #1 · answered by Chick-A- Deedle 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At least in New Hampshire there is no law requiring anyone to have a home inspection. It is however highly recommended that you have an expert look at the home before you buy it.
If the previous owner knew of a defect and deliberately withheld that information then you should have some legal recourse. If the listing agent was aware of the defect then they could also be liable, and possibly violated your state's licensing laws. However, it is possible the seller concealed the defects from their agent as well and they were not aware.
Proving that the seller was aware and deliberately concealed the defects might be difficult. Plumbing problems that showed up 2 years after you bought the home could be something the sellers might not have been aware of. Houses, especially older ones, do require maintenance and things do break.
You probably should contact an attorney to see what your options are, and get a feel for your chances of being able to win a judgement against the seller.
2007-05-30 16:48:56 · answer #2 · answered by Michael Iarrobino 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might have recourse against the previous owners for the basement water problems, since it sounds like they knew about it and concealed it. Did you have an inspection? That's always a good idea, but if you didn't it's too late now. And two years might be beyond the time for being able to file a legal complaint.
As to problems two years later with plumbing, that's probably on your nickel, since it doesn't sound pre-existing or at least not like anything the previous owners would have known about.
Talk to a lawyer - they can give you advice
2007-05-30 16:06:22 · answer #3 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋