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I'm trying to get some information. I purchased my home a year ago. One of my first questions was did the basement flood/take on water? The seller said she's lived there for 49 years and the home never flooded.
We've been getting a lot of rain lately of course and the basement has been flooding. According to the guy next door who lived here for 46 years, he said the lady would call him over all the time when it rained. Is this a lost cause because I've owned the home for a year or their not required to disclosed the basement takes on water?
Is your house in a flood zone? If it is in a flood zone A or V then you should have realized when the bank made you obtian flood insurance that it had the propensity to flood.
If it is not in a flood zone then the homeowner had no obligation under the law to disclose a little flooding when there is abnormal amounts of rain (which there has been in August). If it flooded that often a home inspector should have been able to notice water stains in the basement or other tell tale signs of water damage. If the home got a clean bill of health from the home inspector that you paid to ensure the home was sound and a good purchase then you are out of luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackandproud
I'm trying to get some information. I purchased my home a year ago. One of my first questions was did the basement flood/take on water? The seller said she's lived there for 49 years and the home never flooded.
We've been getting a lot of rain lately of course and the basement has been flooding. According to the guy next door who lived here for 46 years, he said the lady would call him over all the time when it rained. Is this a lost cause because I've owned the home for a year or their not required to disclosed the basement takes on water?
I'm trying to get some information. I purchased my home a year ago. One of my first questions was did the basement flood/take on water? The seller said she's lived there for 49 years and the home never flooded.
We've been getting a lot of rain lately of course and the basement has been flooding. According to the guy next door who lived here for 46 years, he said the lady would call him over all the time when it rained. Is this a lost cause because I've owned the home for a year or their not required to disclosed the basement takes on water?
First, don't use the word "flood" unless you are actually in a flood zone or the streets & lawns are under water. Water getting into the basement due to heavy rains and inadequate preventative measures is NOT flooding, it's water penetration. That might seem a petty point, but if & when you have to fine an insurance claim, it will matter a great deal. Most policies do NOT cover flooding, but most DO cover damage from water penetration due to the failures of preventative measures like sump pumps or clogged gutters.
I'm not sure if you are getting some water in the house and it is being dealt with effectively, or if it's getting out onto the basement floor and causing problems. Is there a sump pump in the house? Is it working properly, and is there a battery backup?
As to the disclosure; did she fill out a sellers disclosure of property condition? Check that form, in the section labeled Attic, Basement & Crawl spaces. Look for the question that asks specifically about water penetration & accumulation, and see how she answered it. But here's the problem, and the reason you may have little recourse here; even is she put in writing that there is no water penetration, you would have to prove that there was, and that she knew about it. The fact you are getting water now does not necessarily mean she was before.
B&P--Sorry about your house, that has got to be incredibly frustrating. BUT what exactly are you trying to do here? Pass the buck? You bought a house almost two years ago (I remember because we closed on our houses around the same time) and now after all that time and one of the wettest summers in history plus "the storm of a lifetime" your getting some water in the basement of a home that is over 50 years old and you want to go after the previous owner?? I'm sorry but you bought this house and things happen to houses, maybe you should be looking for suggestions on how to prevent it in the future or fix it completely not see if someone else is responsible.
blackandproud, I have no words of wisdom here, but I can relate.
I, too, moved into my home a year ago, I'm not in a flood zone, I don't have flood insurance, the seller claimed the basement never flooded or had water penetration, and there was nothing listed in the seller's disclosure.
I was reading through my homeowner's insurance fine print today and there is a clause, of course, that they don't cover flood damage.
And I saw your post in another thread that FEMA denied you because there wasn't enough damage...which is why I guess I shouldn't bother trying my luck with FEMA either.
My basement has a gently sloped floor. In the past decade, I'd gotten some puddles twice before. With Irene, I got over six inches of water in the deepest corner, (yet some sections were still 'bone dry'.)
Sure, some stuff got ruined. Sure, it cost me money. No, I don't have insurance coverage. Yes, when I bought the house the Seller told me that the basement doesn't flood... and it doesn't under all circumstances except the extreme.
I chalk it up to the 'cost of living.' And as I go to sleep each night, I am thankful that I lost only some 'stuff' in my basement... not my house furniture, my business, my home, my family, or my life.
OP, you're struggling with the hassle. I can understand that. It's irritating, it's frustrating... and learning that you were apparently lied to by the Seller is maddening. I empathize with your anger. But our friends are right... there's probably nothing you can do to get satisfaction from the Seller.
I don't mean to minimize your loss. It's real. But restoration is a better motivator than blame.
Try this: Look forward to the time 20 years from now when you'll be able to tell your grandchildren, 'Oh, I had water in my basement once -- back in 2011 after Hurricane Irene. Everything was a mess, but we made it through okay. And that's why we have this beautiful home to this day.' It doesn't change the circumstance but it may change the perspective.
B&P--Sorry about your house, that has got to be incredibly frustrating. BUT what exactly are you trying to do here? Pass the buck? You bought a house almost two years ago (I remember because we closed on our houses around the same time) and now after all that time and one of the wettest summers in history plus "the storm of a lifetime" your getting some water in the basement of a home that is over 50 years old and you want to go after the previous owner?? I'm sorry but you bought this house and things happen to houses, maybe you should be looking for suggestions on how to prevent it in the future or fix it completely not see if someone else is responsible.
No not trying to pass the buck at all. Closed on the house just before Christmas 2009, moved in 2010 after renovations. The first time we enountered water in the basement was April 2010. I figured it was due to the brick walkway on the side of the house and it was only a little water.
But when the Hurricane hit, and all of this water penetration under the foundation of the house destroyed everything, this is when I found out from their longtime neighbor that the house always flooded.
Considering the condition of the basement was my FIRST question, its pisses me off rightfully so to find out that this was an issue that the previous owner has had living in a house for all of those years. Anyone who enounter something like this would have the same question. So again, how is it I'm passing the buck?
My basement has a gently sloped floor. In the past decade, I'd gotten some puddles twice before. With Irene, I got over six inches of water in the deepest corner, (yet some sections were still 'bone dry'.)
Sure, some stuff got ruined. Sure, it cost me money. No, I don't have insurance coverage. Yes, when I bought the house the Seller told me that the basement doesn't flood... and it doesn't under all circumstances except the extreme.
I chalk it up to the 'cost of living.' And as I go to sleep each night, I am thankful that I lost only some 'stuff' in my basement... not my house furniture, my business, my home, my family, or my life.
OP, you're struggling with the hassle. I can understand that. It's irritating, it's frustrating... and learning that you were apparently lied to by the Seller is maddening. I empathize with your anger. But our friends are right... there's probably nothing you can do to get satisfaction from the Seller.
I don't mean to minimize your loss. It's real. But restoration is a better motivator than blame.
Try this: Look forward to the time 20 years from now when you'll be able to tell your grandchildren, 'Oh, I had water in my basement once -- back in 2011 after Hurricane Irene. Everything was a mess, but we made it through okay. And that's why we have this beautiful home to this day.' It doesn't change the circumstance but it may change the perspective.
I totally agree, its extremely frustrating. With the recent rain this week, the basement flooded even worst. I had my contractor come in and he gave me the bad news that the basement floor will need to be dug up because of all of the water penetration and the holes in the floor. Theres one hole that goes all the way down to the clay. There is no way around fixing the floor, it has to get done because I refuse to go through something like this again.
blackandproud, I have no words of wisdom here, but I can relate.
I, too, moved into my home a year ago, I'm not in a flood zone, I don't have flood insurance, the seller claimed the basement never flooded or had water penetration, and there was nothing listed in the seller's disclosure.
I was reading through my homeowner's insurance fine print today and there is a clause, of course, that they don't cover flood damage.
And I saw your post in another thread that FEMA denied you because there wasn't enough damage...which is why I guess I shouldn't bother trying my luck with FEMA either.
I think we're just SOL.
Yes, by the time the FEMA adjuster came out the basement was bone dry, half of the walls were gone, all of the doors and some of the wood molding, furniture, clothes any simblance of a usable space. They said that the home was no longer unliveable. Hmmmm maybe they need to come back today, because the basement looks worst than it did last week, I now have huge holes in the floor from all of the water penetration.
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