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Fact: There are solar panels on the home, indicating they are part of the sale unless otherwise disclosed. When asked about the benefits of the solar panels, he should have revealed they were leased and there was many years remaining on the lease at $X dollars.
Fact: The listing pages and talking to agents did not reveal the panels are leased. This is a very important fact about the house, that would require the agent to reveal to the buyer. As when the inspector asked about the panels, the listing agent knew they were leased, and then and only then, did he reveal they were leased.
This is a material fact about the property, that should have been revealed to the buyer.
Contact the state Association of Realtors (not the local board) and make a complaint that the listing agent knowingly withheld important information from you, and demand the cost of the inspection from the listing agency. They take this type of withholding information very serious, and you should have no trouble getting your money back.
Fact: There are solar panels on the home, indicating they are part of the sale unless otherwise disclosed. When asked about the benefits of the solar panels, he should have revealed they were leased and there was many years remaining on the lease at $X dollars.
Fact: The listing pages and talking to agents did not reveal the panels are leased. This is a very important fact about the house, that would require the agent to reveal to the buyer. As when the inspector asked about the panels, the listing agent knew they were leased, and then and only then, did he reveal they were leased.
This is a material fact about the property, that should have been revealed to the buyer.
Contact the state Association of Realtors (not the local board) and make a complaint that the listing agent knowingly withheld important information from you, and demand the cost of the inspection from the listing agency. They take this type of withholding information very serious, and you should have no trouble getting your money back.
You're making a lot of assumptions about whether the seller notified the listing agent regarding whether the panels were leased or not. If the seller didn't reveal that information to the agent until the inspection, how is the agent at fault? It's not necessarily a fact that the agent knowingly withheld that information; if they did, then yes, they are sleazy and should be punished accordingly.
I've recently seen a few listings with solar panels and in the listing ad they state the solar lease and the monthly payments. So that may be a requirement now for California properties (saw a few in Nevada too). It seemed like not so good of a deal to me energy cost wise.
But those are things that come up with an inspection. In my opinion, it's like saying the realtor never told you the ac unit was on its last leg. This is where you get the full details of your prospective purchase and the reason why you can walk away after an inspection. Solar panels are pretty pricy even with the tax incentives. IF the home wasn't priced significantly above neighboring properties without solar panels then you can't expect them to be included paid off.
I'm not going through this whole thread, but I would tell the OP to chalk it up to experience. If everyone expected to be reimbursed because a real estate agent lied to them, millions of Americans would be lining up for the payments.
You did nothing wrong by assuming that the solar panels were owned. The problem is that there probably wasn't a good way for you to find out they were leased unless the owner or selling agent told you. If you want the home, find out -- from the owners of the panels and not the seller -- what the exact leasing arrangements are. Maybe you can get some concessions from the seller built into the contract, such as a year or two of lease payments.
My only other general advice is that if you have a question on the home and can get the answer from an authoritative source, such as an inspector or government agency, do so. Never trust the word of a real estate agent, especially someone who's working for the other side.
Never trust the word of a real estate agent, especially someone who's working for the other side.
By law, the agent is required to reveal any pertinent facts about the property. The fact that the home had leased solar panels, is a pertinent fact. The agent was offering a property with leased not owned solar panels, as if they were part of the property owned by the seller.
The agent was asked to give financial information on the solar panels. One important financial fact, was the panels were leased and not owned was not revealed.
The owner did not reveal the fact they were leased, till the inspector asked questions, when they agent revealed they were leased. Proof the agent knew.
One should read the following link, which will give you an idea of how the agent has responsibility to the buyer, to reveal and not act against the buyers best interests to sell a property.
Contact the state Association of Realtors (not the local board) and make a complaint that the listing agent knowingly withheld important information from you, and demand the cost of the inspection from the listing agency......
The OP would contact the local board who makes the determination if it goes higher to the state level. You are offering poor advice.
By law, the agent is required to reveal any pertinent facts about the property. The fact that the home had leased solar panels, is a pertinent fact. The agent was offering a property with leased not owned solar panels, as if they were part of the property owned by the seller.
The agent was asked to give financial information on the solar panels. One important financial fact, was the panels were leased and not owned was not revealed.
The owner did not reveal the fact they were leased, till the inspector asked questions, when they agent revealed they were leased. Proof the agent knew.
One should read the following link, which will give you an idea of how the agent has responsibility to the buyer, to reveal and not act against the buyers best interests to sell a property.
I am totally with you that agents should abide by the law. But the reality is that they flout it constantly. I have told the tale of my own selling agent who was dissatisfied with the pace of contract negotiations with our buyers. She threatened to aggressively show our buyers other homes and did just that, violating her state-mandated fiduciary responsibility to us. As a result, they walked away from our deal, paid full asking price for a lesser home and never met their objective of an early occupancy that had been a discussion point in our contract talks. But the unethical agent met her objective of selling two homes and ultimately getting two commissions. I told the agency owner I would do everything possible to get her and the agency's licenses pulled, but we instead settled on a big drop in the commission and were reassigned a more competent and ethical agent. The other agent left the business shortly thereafter, but the agency still had to pay her some commission when we finally sold to a different buyer. She has since popped up as a "premier agent" for another prominent local firm. Heaven help the sellers who choose her.
As a buyer, I also ran into a number of selling agents who would give away personal information about their clients (i.e., "They are desperate to sell") that made them vulnerable to lower offers.
And there are plenty of lies. In our neighborhood right now, an agent is listing a property with last year's lower HOA dues when the current dues and special assessments are well-known in our area. We also looked at one townhome last year where we found the agent was listing the prior year's property taxes, about $2,000 lower than the actual taxes. This kind of stuff goes on all the time and many local real estate boards do little or nothing about it because they are populated by former industry executives.
I hear you on abiding by the law, but that's not reality. The OP, at best, is a victim of the agent's omission or ignorance. At worst (and more likely), the agent knew and deliberately withheld the info. Unless there's written proof that the agent knew about the leased panels, the OP doesn't have a leg to stand on.
And there are plenty of lies. In our neighborhood right now, an agent is listing a property with last year's lower HOA dues when the current dues and special assessments are well-known in our area.
I am not making an excuse for that type of situation, but many times the Realtor puts in the information as presented by the seller. It is possible the Realtor doesn't know the current dues/assessments.
I am not making an excuse for that type of situation, but many times the Realtor puts in the information as presented by the seller. It is possible the Realtor doesn't know the current dues/assessments.
And if you can't trust the Seller, who can you trust?
Actually, any of this type of information should be confirmed by the buyer. And if the buyer has a buyer's agent, the agent should be the one who verifies that information for their client. That's their job.
And if you can't trust the Seller, who can you trust?
I understand your point, not disagreeing with you there. My only point is that it isn't necessarily the listing agent's fault.
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