Seller's failure to disclose (agreement, settlement, news)

[loves2read]

Who says it's a "he"
Do trolls have sexes??

[loves2read]

So what was the verdict about the rest of your project's isdues?

[Cardiff by the Sea]

We dug up the trench where the external pipes were and found that it was indeed a brand new french drain connected to the front shower and the front kitchen sink. The weird black thing was a plastic half round pipe so of like a 15 foot barrel on it side with no bottom. I think this must have been to keep the ground above it from getting soggy. Everything else, all four toilets and all of the back unit plumbing goes to the septic.

sware2cod educated us that this used to be done to conserve the septic but is no longer to code.

We learned that there is city sewer available for us to hook up to for a $700 city fee. But because of the slope we would have to have a lift station which involves a $2,000 pump and probably needs to be a dual pump in case there is pump failure. Our amazingly affordable plumber would do the pipes to the lift station but won't do the lift station or the connection from the lift station to the sewer. We have 3 referrals for the sewer connection but haven't gotten prices yet.

The former owner is coming roughly July 21 supposedly to answer our questions verbally and supposedly is bringing his check book. Hubby will be in charge of negotiating with the former owner.

Like I said before, this is nothing money can't fix and we are hopeful that it won't be our money fixing it.

Thank you for asking.

[loves2read]

Hoping for profitable outcome...

[beninfl]

Originally Posted by loves2read

Who says it's a "he"
Do trolls have sexes??

This one must have a sex. My reasoning is the duplication rate is sooooooooo fast........

[loves2read]

But it takes two to tango, doesn't it?

[dpbarr2000]

In Florida, the home owner's disclosure is no longer mandatory. The buyer has the responsibility to find, through a home inspection, the existence of latent defects.

If you are going to sue anyone, sue your inspector. Inspectors are not infallible. Why didn't they notice the plumbing odors? Why didn't they test the drains?

[bbronston]

Unless there's been a change that I haven't yet heard, the seller is still required to disclose but the disclosure can be either verbal or written. Obviously, the best practice is to put it in writing.

STILL appearing on the Florida Realtor legal Q&As: In Johnson vs. Davis, the Florida Supreme Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The disclosure can be made in writing or verbally. In addition, in Rayner vs. Wise Realty Co. of Tallahassee, the First District Court of Appeal provided that this same disclosure requirement applies to residential properties that are being sold as is.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by dpbarr2000

In Florida, the home owner's disclosure is no longer mandatory. The buyer has the responsibility to find, through a home inspection, the existence of latent defects.

If you are going to sue anyone, sue your inspector. Inspectors are not infallible. Why didn't they notice the plumbing odors? Why didn't they test the drains?

The order was only present when it rained. They did test the drain. It was a french drain, not to code, but it drained fine. The only way to determine it was a french drain was to dig it up which we did.

And as I have said in the first post and many other post, I don't want to sue. I just wanted to know what to expect if we had to go that route.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by bbronston

Unless there's been a change that I haven't yet heard, the seller is still required to disclose but the disclosure can be either verbal or written. Obviously, the best practice is to put it in writing.

STILL appearing on the Florida Realtor legal Q&As: In Johnson vs. Davis, the Florida Supreme Court held that “where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The disclosure can be made in writing or verbally. In addition, in Rayner vs. Wise Realty Co. of Tallahassee, the First District Court of Appeal provided that this same disclosure requirement applies to residential properties that are being sold as is.

I agree with Bob's post regarding residential home sellers disclosure in FL, and will add on to his post.

The state of FL has several required disclosures for homeowners, many are required to be written disclosures.

If the home is in a mandatory HOA, then sellers are required to provide a written disclosure summary for the community to the buyer before the contract is signed. Required language is shown here:
Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine


There's also a required written disclosure of ad valorem taxes for residential properties: A prospective purchaser of residential property must be presented a disclosure summary at or before execution of the contract for sale. Unless a substantially similar disclosure summary is included in the contract for sale, a separate disclosure summary must be attached to the contract for sale. Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine


FL Statute 689 also has a required written disclosure if the seller is retaining the subsurface rights to the property after closing (there is a particular builder that is doing that).

If you are selling a property with a building on it, Fl statute 404 also requires a written disclosure about radon gas:
“RADON GAS: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that, when it has accumulated in a building in sufficient quantities, may present health risks to persons who are exposed to it over time. Levels of radon that exceed federal and state guidelines have been found in buildings in Florida. Additional information regarding radon and radon testing may be obtained from your county health department.”


FL requires a seller of a home that has pending code enforcement action against it to make a written disclosure of this fact to potential buyers per Statutes 125.69(4)(d) and 162.06(5), along with copies of any notices received regarding the code enforcement.



Perhaps Mr. Barr is confused regarding the 2003 case ruling on Agrobin v. Botanica Development, which stated if you are a seller your disclosure is governed by the purpose of the purchase. It is my understanding after reading several legal commentaries about the ruling that if a seller has been using the property for rental or investment purposes (ie commercial venture), the seller is not under the same obligation duty of disclosure, but only if they are selling to a buyer who will also use the property for rental or investment purposes. The ruling did not extend to sellers of all residential properties.