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I purchased a home in NJ 8 months ago. I was told by my realtor and attorney that the seller submitted an approved CO as required. I am now selling my home due to a relocation with my company (yes..8 months later) and I have found out there was not a CO for my home when I purchased it. Now I am having to pay for some electrical work and permits so I can get an approved CO and close on my home.
Can I hold my realtor or closing attorney responsible for failure to do their job, which has now opened me up to this liability or am I just out of luck and have to pay these fees?
I purchased a home in NJ 8 months ago. I was told by my realtor and attorney that the seller submitted an approved CO as required. I am now selling my home due to a relocation with my company (yes..8 months later) and I have found out there was not a CO for my home when I purchased it. Now I am having to pay for some electrical work and permits so I can get an approved CO and close on my home.
Can I hold my realtor or closing attorney responsible for failure to do their job, which has now opened me up to this liability or am I just out of luck and have to pay these fees?
Hopefully you have this in writing when they advised you the request was submitted and completed? If so then you have the documentation you need to chase after them. Forget about chasing the lawyer as you will find few lawyers willing to take on a case against another. It really has more to do with a lawyer knowing how to drag out a case and make it more expensive to fight rather than one lawyer covering up for another.
You should speak with a lawyer and ask him if you can pursue any errors and omissions insurance the used home salesperson might have, or their broker/brokerage. As for the title insurance policy angle I've seen quite a few policies and most all of them excluded covering any type of code violation and no co might fall under that. However when you speak to the lawyer have them review your title policy as well. Title insurance really is mandated junk insurance that does little to nothing to protect you.
Unfortunately in many cases the burden of responsibility ultimately falls onto the buyer. All of the other real estate participants have their contracts very well written to prevent you from coming back on them and they leave little or no hard paper trail of their advice that caused your problem.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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My original post assumed the OP was talking about a Carbon Monoxide detector. No that I look at the post more closely I think maybe the OP is referring to a Certificate of Occupancy. Ooops!
Why bother looking at lawsuits, and errors insurance. etc?
Simply call the agent and the attorney and ask them what happened. If the attorney was the closing agent, then s/he is the one responsible for the document. Maybe his assistant just didn't record it.
If there was a title company, escrow officer involved, then ask them.
Why bother looking at lawsuits, and errors insurance. etc?
Simply call the agent and the attorney and ask them what happened. If the attorney was the closing agent, then s/he is the one responsible for the document. Maybe his assistant just didn't record it.
If there was a title company, escrow officer involved, then ask them.
Ditto. JBiggs likes to chase shadows sometimes. There are easier things to try first such as Bill's advice.
Why bother looking at lawsuits, and errors insurance. etc?
Simply call the agent and the attorney and ask them what happened. If the attorney was the closing agent, then s/he is the one responsible for the document. Maybe his assistant just didn't record it.
If there was a title company, escrow officer involved, then ask them.
jbiggs is like modeerf in that they are on mission that may or may not have anything to do with what the OP is asking or be helpful. Just know they have a specific agenda.
My original post assumed the OP was talking about a Carbon Monoxide detector. No that I look at the post more closely I think maybe the OP is referring to a Certificate of Occupancy. Ooops!
I know, I hate acronyms too. More people might respond if one took the extra 1 second to type out the acronym. (sigh.....)
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