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If a seller misrepresents on the seller's disclosure form provided to us that no past or present leaks or repairs were made to the sewer or water lines, but we find out after purchasing the home there was an extensive repair to the water line - can we win a case against the sellers of the home? Here is the situation....
[SIZE=3]CLAIM – Sellers misrepresented on the seller’s disclosure form provided to us that no past or present leaks had occurred related to the sewer or water lines.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]FACTS – During a phone call on March xxx, the seller informed me of an extensive repair made to the water line in 1994. The repairs were to a polybutelene water line. A new line was run from the street up the side of the yard, under the driveway and to the house. The water line connection at the home is right next to the sewer line connection. We were not made aware of this repair until last week.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]CASE – Had the seller properly disclosed a major repair to the water line, we would have inspected the repairs made to the plumbing in more depth. During this inspection, we might have found the break in the sewer line. After living in the home for two months, our sewer line broke and we incurred $2500 in expenses plus the removal of our landscaping to have the repair. We believe the sewer line break could have been caused by the water line repair since the flood from the water line leak in 1994 likely washed a lot of the soil out from under the home which could have caused settling onto the water line.[/SIZE]
We are looking for reimbursement from the seller's for the repairs to the sewer line. Any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated!
First, I would recommend contacting your agent if you had representation on your purchase. Second, you need to have proof that the seller was aware of this repair and intentionally mislead you in order to have a case. If you have the seller's e-mail address and can get them to talk about the issue, then you'll have your proof in writing. Or if you know who made the repair, you could possibly contact them and see if they still have the record of the repair - maybe you can use this as an excuse to contact the seller again via e-mail.
To me a lotis not disclossed as it should. I was told every time to fill out " don't know" and the different realtors stated " not imprtant, just fill out as much as you know, when you ste you don't know they can't say anything". This bottered me a lot. I only sold new build homes in which nobody had kived but what if realtors are telling this about issues that should be disclossed, I guess you have a good case and would ask a lawyer about it. If you can try to get the previous owner to talk and ask how much his/her representor knew about it.
The repair to the water line was made 14 years ago and you want to blame a sewer line break on it?
You can get an attorney and try to get some money but I think you will have a hard time convincing anyone that the waterline break 14 years ago caused the sewer line break this year.
The repair to the water line was made 14 years ago and you want to blame a sewer line break on it?
You can get an attorney and try to get some money but I think you will have a hard time convincing anyone that the waterline break 14 years ago caused the sewer line break this year.
I agree. The seller may have even forgotten about the repair. The break may have been in a different area from the repair and not be associated with the original repair at all.
The disclosure form is for the seller to fill out. Realtors in AZ are not allowed to assist in the form in any manner. We provide the form, and inform the sellers to fill the form out to the best of their knowledge and to be completely truthful.
The disclosure is extremely important due to the potential liability and no realtor should be telling a client that it is not important. I don't know of any realtor that would make a statement like that, even new agents because they are taught the importance of the disclosure, how to handle it, and the potential legal liability.
If a seller misrepresents on the seller's disclosure form provided to us that no past or present leaks or repairs were made to the sewer or water lines, but we find out after purchasing the home there was an extensive repair to the water line - can we win a case against the sellers of the home? Here is the situation....
[SIZE=3]CLAIM – Sellers misrepresented on the seller’s disclosure form provided to us that no past or present leaks had occurred related to the sewer or water lines.[/SIZE]
Well it depends on what your disclosure statements say. Your claim states that no past or present leaks had occurred, but in the top section it states repairs as well. So do they need to disclose a leak or a repair or both? Was the reason for the original work a leak or something else? Legalities are all about semantics. Just because they did a major repair, doesn't mean it was caused by a leak. So...it depends on the terminology of the disclosure form.
What you do also depends on your dispute resolution clause. Out here it would be a small claims court issue since it is less than $7500. I think you would also have to show that the leak was occurring at the time of the purchase. Since two months have passed it is possible that the leak occurred after the purchase in which case a sewer scope would have showed nothing and you would still be paying the $2500 for it.
You have many issues here, and you need to read your purchase and sale agreement regarding dispute resolution to see what it says. Proving misrepresentation is difficult.
As for telling people to check "don't know" the local FSBO attorney who does the classes for them, tells FSBO's exactly that. Check unknown for everything. I have seen this come across my desk a couple of times, and the buyers always ask for clarification. Be honest and report what you know. Most people don't hang out in their attic or crawlspace.
Thanks everyone for your posts. Just to provide more details - I did speak to the seller of the home last week. She went into great detail about how in 1994 she walked out and saw everything had flooded. She gave me the name of the plumber and all of the details. My thought is that had we known that a water line break occurred in 1994 and flooded the front area around the house foundation, then we would have looked for issues caused by the water flooding. Where this took place is right next to where the sewer line connects to our home. The flooding could have caused the soil to erode under the house which in turn caused settling of the home.
My case is that they immediately recollected have this repair work done but marked no next to the line item on the seller's disclosure stating no past repairs were made to the plumbing. We relied on the representation they made and feel they should at least pay us for 1/2 of our expenses. I would term this negligent misrepresentation.
Every state has their own disclosure laws...don't know about your home state though. In NJ for instance the disclosure laws are extremely strict. You have to disclose everything even things you don't know about your home but could have known like a loud neighbor. There you have recourse as a buyer for up the 6 years after the purchase and the seller can be held liable for all kinds of issues. Of course this would be decided in court. We now live in MA and there is no buyer protection to speak of. The seller does not even have to fill out a disclosure form. It is up to the buyer to do due diligence before the purchase i.e. inspection.
Now that being said: you have to talk to a real estate lawyer.
I know how you feel and would just like for the seller to pay their share/come your way a little. But I doubt they will do that without being forced to it by a judge. And for a bigger legal battle the damage is too small, you will have more costs trying to sue them.
And although the law might be on your side sometimes it is better to drive on and invest your money, time and energy in something else. Like gardening and restoring your front yard. :-)
Last edited by haberstroh; 03-12-2008 at 05:38 PM..
Reason: mad wrong assumption about your state, had to change wording of it
Thanks everyone for your posts. Just to provide more details - I did speak to the seller of the home last week. She went into great detail about how in 1994 she walked out and saw everything had flooded. She gave me the name of the plumber and all of the details. My thought is that had we known that a water line break occurred in 1994 and flooded the front area around the house foundation, then we would have looked for issues caused by the water flooding. Where this took place is right next to where the sewer line connects to our home. The flooding could have caused the soil to erode under the house which in turn caused settling of the home.
My case is that they immediately recollected have this repair work done but marked no next to the line item on the seller's disclosure stating no past repairs were made to the plumbing. We relied on the representation they made and feel they should at least pay us for 1/2 of our expenses. I would term this negligent misrepresentation.
Any additional thoughts are greatly appreciated!
I agree with Mike and Bill. Contact your Realtor and your RE Attorney and ask them but it's unlikely you'll get any recourse. It is very possible it hadn't leaked since 1994 and it was just time to go. When you buy a home and something breaks it's your problem (normally). Ask your attorney because this is something they'll handle.
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