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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I agree with others, you have no need for a lawyer yet. Your only real complaint is about the exterminator, if that was in the contract and they cannot prove that it was done. If it was done, you can only ask them to come back and will have to pay for it since there was probably no guarantee. As for the rest, an inspection would have revealed all of those issues, without one, you would have to prove that the sellers knew and failed to disclose anything affecting the value. They can only disclose what they know about, and may not have been aware of the subfloor, but that may not even be a problem depending on how the floor was built. If you bought it sight unseen without an inspection, this is what you get, and you will have to get the work done at your own expense.
OP, you never mentioned where you are and where the home is. Some areas/homes don't normally have subfloors built in and could be built directly on concrete slab with regular floor padding (or not). There is a whole lot of unknown here. We can only offer opinions, we cannot offer legal advice.
I note from your zip code that you are in Dearborn, Michigan. Did the City do an inspection of the house at the time of purchase? If so, what did that inspection report reveal? Did you have your own private inspector as well?
First of all, how old is the house? Most houses in the area have basements and not all houses have subfloors, although newer houses usually do. My first house was not too far away from your area and it did not have a subfloor...but it was built in the 1880s. It wasn't a problem. I assume that your house was built many years ago and not having a subfloor has likely not been a problem, either.
As far as the rodents, are you talking about mice? If so, even if they had exterminated all of the mice a year ago that wouldn't keep them away for long. Controlling mice or other rodents needs constant attention. I suggest that you buy some snap traps. (Don't use poisons or glue traps.) That would be much easier than trying to contend with a lawsuit.
It seems that your biggest problem is the paint issue. That's unfortunate. They may have meant well, but if they didn't prepare the surface properly--or if they painted flat paint over a gloss finish--the paint may not adhere as it's supposed to, as appears to be your case. Especially if they paid someone else to paint the house, it would probably be hard to prove that they were deceptive in simply calling it "freshly painted." Besides, paint is not covered in Michigan's "Seller's Disclosure Statement." Also, the Seller's Disclosure Statement is not a warranty of any kind and is meant to reveal problems that a Seller knows about. It is not a disclosure being made by either a Seller's or Buyer's agent--even though they should note obvious issues not revealed by a Seller. These don't seem to be obvious issues that would render an agent liable.
If you seek legal advice, you should talk to a lawyer, but I think it would be very difficult for you to hold the Seller liable for the issues that you have mentioned...or at least it wouldn't be worth the trouble of filing a lawsuit.
I do hope that you will come back and answer some of the questions which have been raised.
I recently purchased a home and have encountered several concerning issues that were not disclosed to me during the purchase process. Firstly, upon inspection, I discovered that there are no subfloors in the home, which was not mentioned prior to the purchase. Additionally, despite the assurance of freshly painted walls, the paint is now peeling off in large chunks throughout the house. And I’ve also noticed that there is water stains where the paint is coming off in the bathroom on the ceiling .Moreover, the seller was supposed to have the home exterminated due to signs of rodents in the attic, but this was not carried out as promised.
I feel that my real estate agent failed to adequately represent my interests in this transaction, as they did not ensure proper disclosures were made and failed to address these issues effectively. Despite repeated requests over the past year, I have yet to receive receipts for the extermination that was supposed to be conducted.
Given these circumstances, I am seeking advice on whether I have grounds to pursue legal action against the seller for failure to disclose the absence of subfloors, the poor condition of the paint, and the unfulfilled extermination agreement. Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.Mizzimba
No person who is not a member of the bar should be providing you actual legal advice.
State laws vary, and you have not indicated the state in which this occurred.
No reputable attorney would provide you legal advice on the information you provided and without first establishing a client relationship.
Having said that I am sorry to hear of these conditions and wish you the best in getting them addressed.
No one but an attorney is allowed to give "legal advise."
My layperson's advice would be to consult a real estate attorney in your area.
I don't know what State you are in but suspect it is no different than any other State. The laws generally state that nobody can represent themselves as a legal specialist without an appropriate license where/when required and nobody can provide legal advice or guidance for a fee unless properly licensed and/or they hold other licenses that prohibit them from providing legal advice.
In a nutshell anybody can give legal advice but it does not mean that advice is accurate, that includes Attorney's as well.
How am I going to be able to sleep at night not knowing what's up with the sub floors?
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