We have a "enclosed patio" that we were using for a den and now the whole room is demolished due to flooding. I filed with our homeowners insurance and the adjuster said that there was previous flooding ....rotten wood etc. The insurace company only gave us a third of what we need to repair the WHOLE room. $2,300 deductible. The sellers disclosure says no flooding so do i go to court? Who has a copy of the inspector's report besides me? Isn't this a violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act for failing to disclose a material fact? We've also have had to replace water heater, dishwasher, and plumbing, which all was good in the seller's disclosure.
2007-07-31 16:29:21 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
Seller's disclosure will say , that they not aware
of any wrong, and everything in a working condition. You should buy a home warranty for 1 year, then you will be cover for appliances.So, when you bough the house everything was working and was no flood, Only you have a copy of inspection, look like you don't have a case for a court. Just learn from your mistakes, and be more carefull next time.
Good Luck!
2007-07-31 16:56:20 · answer #1 · answered by reality 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many states have laws that will or will not cover you. You have it sounds already excepted the insurance money because of this you do not have any more you can do with the insurance company. You could have not excepted thier offer and fought them in this matter with other avenues such as court, independent appraisers etc. You will need legal help a lawyer next . You must prove that the seller had knowledge of flooding which had left a negative impact on your property and they were aware of this. A hard thing to prove what they admit to or not is going to be the case. The best you can hope for is find out when the orignal damage started and if they were insured and had except payment but never repaired. Check news paper ask question fire deptartment, county. You may have signed an agreement to purchase with any unknown faults by seller and not hold them legal bound. Next the other course is any inspecters you or they had used that said the property was in such and such condition and no hazerds or faults were found. They could be at fault and you might have a case against them. Time has passed so depending on when you bouth the property and the time now if flooding had taken place earlier it may not have shown any correction at that time needed or been repaired so the past may have been taken care of but time has allowed for further deteration to take place not by the first flood but by age. The 1st flooding could have been done before the seller bought and they also not have been told plus laws at that time may have not been law then. could have also
2007-07-31 16:59:14 · answer #2 · answered by tab c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get everything..EVERYTHING in writing and copied. If disclosure says no flooding the yes you can take them to court for deceptive trade. Water heater, dishwasher...etc where good at the time of sale but unless when you had the house inspected the inspector said they where good also you can not file against that. The inspector has a copy of the report, your Realtor should have a report and you insurance company should have a copy. See if your home warranty would have been able to fix the problem, homeowners insurance will not be cancelled to many companies have realized it's easier to keep you than drop you...it cost less.
2007-07-31 17:13:21 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Real estate disclosure laws are not what you seem to think they are. If, when you took possession of the property, the dishwasher, water heater and plumbing were in working condition, they WERE 'good'. Disclosures are not a guarantee of any sort. They are a statement of CURRENT condition.
Real estate disclosure also only requires disclosure of KNOWN situations. Try proving that the seller knew that there was rotting wood. You won't get very far.
I'd venture that your only chance at any sort of settlement here might be against the inspector, for failure to determine the actual condition of the property. However, even the inspector isn't required to tear apart the premises to determine if there is rotting wood or similar.
2007-07-31 16:58:09 · answer #4 · answered by acermill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not in texas
you may find that the Act you cite does not cover real estate situations, which tend to have separate laws.
did you look for a flood plain report prior to buying? If the house is in a federally recognized flood plain, you may have been legally notified of same no matter what the sellers knew or didn't know.
to move further, you'll need a good local real estate attorney. make sure she or he wasn't the attorney for the original builder of the property.
this sort of thing is exactly why, as a buyer, you want to require that the seller provide a one year home warranty. You choose the inspection and warranty company. You pay for the inspection part of it, the seller pays for the warranty.
GL
2007-07-31 16:36:51 · answer #5 · answered by Spock (rhp) 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
you will possibly have greater success suing the inspector i think of..... the homeowner bought you a house, and as long as he grew to become into blind to the themes he's not liabel. The inspector could have the skill to become attentive to quite a few the themes you reported, that's why human beings pay an inspector. If his failure leads to your loss, i might think of you have got a case (yet it would probably cost you greater in criminal costs than you will possibly stand to learn....) i might advise fixing the living house. Drains may be unclogged for nominal costs (rotor router can unglog employing fairly long snakes for some hundred to 1000 dollars). A roof may be patched up for low-cost till you preserve adequate (or learn adequate) to get it accomplished appropriate. Your in straight forward terms decision to fixing the situation up is to sell it for a great loss (or restoration it then sell it, yet that's a foul circulate in the present industry). additionally, if the tub is clogged... however the sinks at the instant are not then that's probable an pretty shallow leak which may be unclogged with a snake for 2 hundred dollars.....
2016-10-08 22:57:10 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
do u have separate flood insurance?? where i live if u live near a place that can flood u must purchase a separate insurance for it depending on you loan.....i think since it wasn't in the disclosure that they do have to fix it I'm unsure talk to a mortgage loan place they are really good with these types of things....so sorry to hear that this happened.. good luck in the future!
2007-07-31 16:38:32 · answer #7 · answered by ~jessi~ aka....mommy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because the adjuster said that there was previous flooding, have him put it in writing then approach the seller.
If they rufuse to settle, you'll have the ins co's claim for proof in court.
2007-07-31 16:34:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
first - never never report to your HO insurance...cause guess what comes next? you are gonna get cancelled
second - you are gonna have to bring suit against the previous owners.
good luck :)
2007-07-31 16:38:53 · answer #9 · answered by Blue October 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋