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Long, complicated situation here regarding a house I purchased last July. Please bear with me, I'll try to sum it up as succinctly as possible.
Seller hired a contractor to install a french drain made it clear he'd "put a lot of money" into water issues in the basement. Basement, by the time I had my home inspector go through, was 3/4 finished, with a small unfinished area where the washer and dryer/furnace/ac are. In this unfinished area, there was a spot on the wall with two weep holes about 6 inches up from the floor leading to a drain in the floor. You could see water going to that drain, but it was in the unfinished portion of the basement - inspector figured it was an old system that still worked.
Starting in late November, I began to notice water in the finished portion of the basement. Carpets soaked, water coming up from under flooring in basement bathroom. AFter a lot of searching and ruling things out that it couldn't be, I finally gave up and called the guy who'd put in the french drain to see what he thought.
He finally came out to my place today, and what I learned is horrifying. Basically, there are weep holes throughout the basement. Contractor who put in french drain was hired to only install french drain, he warned that this would only handle ground water, not wall water. When they finished the drain, apparently the seller contacted the contractor about water pouring in through the wall holes. Contractor came over, tried to plug the holes, but seller refused to take down wallboard and studs he'd already put up, thus hampering the job (and contractor claims he wasn't paid for this additional work - it's not in the contract).
On a side note, at some point after my home inspection but before closing day, I was visiting the house to take measurements. I noted that the basement carpet was a bit wet, and told my RE agent. She contacted the seller (who is, btw, also a RE agent) and he claimed it was just from the furnace they'd replaced (should have known better I guess). So here is, I believe, more proof that the seller just simply covered up the walls and crossed his fingers that nothing would be noticed until the closing went through.
Contractor states it could cost upwards of $15k to fix the issue, what with taking down studs and drywall, doing the waterproofing correctly, then putting back up studs and drywall. Home warranty doesn't cover it, doesn't sound like home insurance is going to cover it either, though I am going to have a claims person come out.
To top off this instance, I have learned that the seller got no permits for any of the work done in the house: there is new plumbing in the basement and 2nd floor (both of which were previously unfinished), there is a new electrical subpanel that we said had to be installed - and none of these got township permits.
What do you think: if I have the testimony of this contractor, the fact that no permits were pulled, and all this damage, is there any type of case for fraud? The seller's disclosure says only "Previous waterproofing system and undersized sump pit were removed and new system and larger pit were installed."
Also go to the state Association Of Realtors and place a complaint of what the Realtor owner did. They can very often get you the results you want, such as doing it over in the basement, doing it right. If the person is a Realtor and does not want to lose their license, they will get you some action. You can also go to the state Licensing bureau over Real Estate Licenses. They can also put a lot of pressure to get you satisfied. These two avenues are Free, and do not charge like an attorney does.
Also go to the state Association Of Realtors and place a complaint of what the Realtor owner did. They can very often get you the results you want, such as doing it over in the basement, doing it right. If the person is a Realtor and does not want to lose their license, they will get you some action. You can also go to the state Licensing bureau over Real Estate Licenses. They can also put a lot of pressure to get you satisfied. These two avenues are Free, and do not charge like an attorney does.
If you have a paper trail, especially the emails where you had concerns and were lied to about the water, you really need to talk with an attorney. The hard part will be to get the contractor to swear to an affidavit as he might not want to get "involved".
In talking to him today, it sounds as if he may be willing to swear an affidavit. His words were, "If it came to that." So, I don't think he's thrilled with the idea, but I also think he doesn't want to take the fall for it and have it out there that he'd done shoddy work.
Yes, get a lawyer. You actually have a chance since he is a Realtor and this could hurt him career wise. But I would let the lawyer do it so there's no mistake.
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