QUESTION

We put an offer in on a house and recieved the disclouser statement as to the condition the house is being sold as is and based on the disclosure stat

Asked on Jun 10th, 2013 on Real Estate - Ohio
More details to this question:
After the inspections we foud out that several major items the septic being the main item was non functioning and the rest of the water was being emptied into the sump area and being pumped out that way. We were told house had new windows again not true and was also noted that all drains and downspouts were in good working order this we found from inspection was not true as they are all blocked and water is being diverted into the yard. We realize that we were buing a house as is but they were not forth coming on the disclousere statement and had we known the septic and other problems were that bad would not have made the offer. Did not even mention the electric is taped together for the oven and not even in a box but stated all wiring wsa good. Do we have any way to get back what we paid for ispections as well as our loan will run out and rates have went even higher.
Report Abuse

1 ANSWER

The two choices you have are likely controlled by your purchase agreement.  Your choices are complete the transaction or cancel the transaction.  There is likely a provision in your agreement that gives you the right to do either, but the complete the transaction is usually divided into two choices, require repairs be made (or compensate you for doing them yourself), giving the power to the seller to agree to make the repair or pay the compensation or reject the offer, in which event the contract will usually be canceled the same as your second choice, with all parties agreeing to pay their own costs. You could try to make a claim for fraud, but the cost in attorneys' fees and aggravation is likely not worth the effort.  You could also try to make a claim against the real estate company, assuming that they had some knowledge of the defects.  Yes, if a fraud case you could be awarded attorneys' fees, but that would mean that you would likely have to have a trial as most people generally fight that concept and they will likely defend saying that they had no knowledge of the problem, that as far as they knew it was all working properly. Consider whether you would actually want to own the house if everything was properly repaired.  Maybe you can work something out with the seller, after all, they want to sell and now they DO know that there are problems, so they will have to change their disclosure statement for the next potential buyer.  They may be willing to be reasonably generous with an allowance for repairs.  This can be a tricky agreement to put together.  I recommend that you consult with a real estate attorney to help you draft an appropriate addendum to your purchase agreement.
Answered on Jun 10th, 2013 at 4:34 PM

Report Abuse

Ask a Lawyer

Consumers can use this platform to pose legal questions to real lawyers and receive free insights.

Participating legal professionals get the opportunity to speak directly with people who may need their services, as well as enhance their standing in the Lawyers.com community.

0 out of 150 characters