I purchased my home and the roof leaks! (Waterville, Morrill: sale, real estate)

[Kwilmot]

Could someone help me? Two years ago I purchased my home with all the hopes and dreams. I hired a home inspector, got the radon tests, and read all the disclosures etc... Looking back I remember the prior owner was patch painting the walls and I noticed stains near the skylights. I was assured by the owner and inspector that it was condensation around the windows and the roof had no major issues. The first year the windows all leaked but I didn't know if it was the snow we had had but this past year was the worst. I have been getting several quotes from contractors to repair all the issues, the estimates are around $15,000!! Do I have any recourse or is it too late? Could anyone give me suggestions on my options?

Thanks,

First time homeowner

[Cornerguy1]

One assumes from the member's IP that the houe is located in Maine.

Well, Maine real estate experts, any recourse available?

[WhoFanMe]

Check the Purchase and Sale Agreement. Was it done on the Maine Association of REALTORS Zipforms software? Paragraph 17 discusses Mediation and your options. You will also want to let your Buyer Agent know of the situation.

[mainbound]

Buckets lotsa buckets.....
Was this a new home or existing. Where I'm from the most you could reclaim is the cost of the home inspection, unless of course you have a new home warr. good luck, I hope it works out for you.

[ArkansasTraveler]

Originally Posted by Kwilmot

Could someone help me? Two years ago I purchased my home with all the hopes and dreams. I hired a home inspector, got the radon tests, and read all the disclosures etc... Looking back I remember the prior owner was patch painting the walls and I noticed stains near the skylights. I was assured by the owner and inspector that it was condensation around the windows and the roof had no major issues. The first year the windows all leaked but I didn't know if it was the snow we had had but this past year was the worst. I have been getting several quotes from contractors to repair all the issues, the estimates are around $15,000!! Do I have any recourse or is it too late? Could anyone give me suggestions on my options?

Thanks,

First time homeowner

This condo I'm in was put up in 1996 - moved in 1997 - for two years the top units (19-21 floor) -- when it rained the water came through the walls.
It is called the Korean condo and the city code inspectors were 'greased'.

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by Kwilmot

Could someone help me? Two years ago I purchased my home with all the hopes and dreams. I hired a home inspector, got the radon tests, and read all the disclosures etc... Looking back I remember the prior owner was patch painting the walls and I noticed stains near the skylights. I was assured by the owner and inspector that it was condensation around the windows and the roof had no major issues. The first year the windows all leaked but I didn't know if it was the snow we had had but this past year was the worst. I have been getting several quotes from contractors to repair all the issues, the estimates are around $15,000!! Do I have any recourse or is it too late? Could anyone give me suggestions on my options?

Thanks,

First time homeowner

You have considerable resources available to you, and you need to get very aggressive about this situation. This appears to be a simple case of the home inspector not doing his job properly, and the homeowner misrepresenting the condition of the home. I think your best recourse is against the home inspector, and I hope you have the inspection contract inhand, and that the inspector was operating under a state issued license. It will also be exceedingly good for you if the inspector was insured.

I think you will need to have the inspection contract read by an attorney. It is highly unlikely that skylights develop "condensation", unless they are improperly installed and the flashing and insulation around them in the roof is missing or poorly placed. For an inspector to overlook this really important defect is a serious error and the inspector is accountable.

When my daughter bought her home in Morrill some six or seven years ago, she hired a home inspector and when the inspection was done it was raining cats and dogs. The inspector admitted that he had NOT placed a ladder that would allow him to inspect the dormer roof in the front of the house. The dormer developed serious leaks because the dormer roof, unlike that of the rest of the house was in poor condition and needed to be replaced. The inspector had certified in his report (in writing) that the roof was in excellent condition.

In my daughter's case, I helped her to write a letter to the home inspector and the home inspection company. In the end my daughter's loss was made whole by the inspection company's insurance company, and all was well. We did not hire a lawyer nor did we have to go to court, but my letter implied that those were the next steps failing the inspector's good faith attempt at resolution.

I have had a lengthy career in commercial general liability insurance so I have a bit more expertise in these issues than most people which is why I recommend that you consult an attorney to help you. But if you face a really big repair bill for something about which you originally paid for expert appraisal and the inspector missed the whole problem, you have legal recourse and need to ask for professional legal help to get it.

Quite a long time ago...oh, almost thirty years...after buying an insurance agency in the Waterville area, we had a particularly nasty snow storm one night. It snowed about eight inches and then rained, got warm, and then the temperature went down below zero. The next morning, I got a call from a homeowner's policy owner whose house was leaking buckets past the large picture windows in the front rooms. I went out to see the damage, and found the front rooms littered with buckets soaking up steady streams of water pouring down inside the house from above the front picture windows. There was NO visible damage to the house itself, and I knew that there was no coverage under the homeowner's insurance policy.

What had happened was that the roof on this new, FHA financed home had been installed without flashing and probably without insulation in the eaves so that when snow and ice accumulated on the roof, the heat inside of the house melted the snow creating an ice dam at the edge of the roof. Water then backed up and flooded inside the house. The recourse of this homeowner was directly against the builder who had done an improper construction/finishing job on the house.

Unfortunately the builder was out of business, and when I called the local FHA inspector he told me that the FHA "assumed" that the local contractors were all reputable builders and that such things shouldn't happen at all, and that the FHA had NO records about insurance coverage for the contractors who knocked together these houses.

In the end the damange was repaired after a local attorney made a few phone calls, obtained the name of the defunct builder's insurance agent and the insurance company that HAD insured the contractor made a settlement under the completed operations and products liability section of the commercial general liability policy that the builder had carried.

It sounds to me like you need to get boiling mad and get some expert assistance to wring this one out, because it appears to me that you have been "had" by stupid, incompetant and perhaps less than honest people.

Best of luck to you!

[WhoFanMe]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

You have considerable resources available to you, and you need to get very aggressive about this situation. This appears to be a simple case of the home inspector not doing his job properly, and the homeowner misrepresenting the condition of the home. I think your best recourse is against the home inspector, and I hope you have the inspection contract inhand, and that the inspector was operating under a state issued license. It will also be exceedingly good for you if the inspector was insured.

Unfortunately Maine does not require Home Inspectors to be licensed. Anybody can be a home inspector here.

[7th generation]

$15,000 seems like someone's trying to sell you a new roof.
If it is the flashing around the sky lights, some new flashing or maybe sealing the old should fix the problem.
I would definitely get another opinion and if possible, get on the roof yourself to evaluate the situation. We are getting close to the wet season and you want to fix it before more damage is done.
Waiting for an attorney to resolve the issue is delaying the inevitable.

[flycessna]

I know some here have given you hope of some kind recourse...they could be absolutely correct. I just do not know, but experience tells me that you would be better off focusing your energy and time to fixing these problems which will undoubtedly just get worse and more expensive to repair. Make sure you call several contractors to come to the home and inspect it and give you quotes. Take lots of pictures, keep good records, and maybe down the road a bit you can turn your energy to getting some kind of compensation.

Not to be long winded but I find that a lot of in-experienced buyers really never factor in the exorbitant costs of maintenance on a home. So keep in mind that the home is yours, and even though you feel you got the short end of the stick with the inspection and what not….you will still be investing in your home…and in the end it will only benefit you good luck.