law suits after buying a house

A family member was recently speaking with their plumber/friend about some of the housing problems we have uncovered since closing on our house.

the plumber said something that there is a year period where the new owner can file a law suit to cover expenses that were needed to repair big-items (e.g., the roof, the basement).

is anyone aware of this?

law suits after buying a house

I think you would be able to sue the home inspector as it is their job to find these issues and you pay them

Re: law suits after buying a house

I don't believe so. The home owner would pay some money ($100 or $500 - don't remember) to cover any unforeseen issues with the house they were unaware of. It basically protects them from new owners who find problems after they close.

Re: law suits after buying a house

Good luck with that. I would not even waste my time trying to sue over something like that.

Roof - you had an inspection correct? then you knew the condition of the roof.

Basement- I am assuming water - you would have to prove they knew about the water and didn't disclose it to you.

Re: law suits after buying a house

i unfortunately dont think there is anything you can do - unless its something like storm damage (from Sandy for example) - our realtor told us they had to disclose that. but normal wear and tear they do not.

you should have had the house inspected in which some of these issues should have come up. my only thought would be *maybe* you can go after the home inspection company, but i from what i can tell on my report, they cover their a** pretty well when doing an inspection. for example:
our inspector wrote that the basement is recently finished therefore he cannot see what is behind the finished walls (which is basically saying there could be water damage that is not visible)

he also stated that the top layer of the roof had bubbling but he could not access the lower layer and therefore is unaware of that condition.

i unfortunately think its the hazard of home buying - there is only so much you can see in an inspection

law suits after buying a house

You can sue but, you need to make sure the items are big enough to make it worth your while and the process takes a long period of time.

I have a friend who sued due to damage that was covered up and won but, it took a number of years and it was a long, gruelling process.

Re: law suits after buying a house

Doesn't the seller have the option give the buyer a $500 credit to get out of that warranty? I seem to recall something about that, but I closed more than 7 years ago.

law suits after buying a house

I'm pretty sure you would have to be able to proive that the seller knew of a particular problem AND that they intentionally covered it up

Re: law suits after buying a house

I don't think there is anything you can do, the seller signs a form, gives you a credit and basically seals the deal that the house is as is.

I took the old owner of my home to smalls claims court about a month after we bought and actually won, but it was a case where repairs were agreed to be made prior to closing and the old owner hired a friend to do the job and not a licensed contractor which is signed off it was....in this case we won and got $$ back for repairs we had to fix.

Re: law suits after buying a house

Dont bother. You wont win. You would have to prove you were LIED to and things were literally covered up, which is hard to do. Also a homeowner usually pays the $500 nondisclosure fee to cover all this.

In addition, as a homeowner, you will find things that an inspection cannot and WILL not pick up. There will always be unforeseen things that you will discover once you live in a home.

Message edited 10/17/2013 4:01:09 PM.

Re: law suits after buying a house

If this was common, I think we'd see this pretty regularly on here and that is certainly not the case ;).


I also think common sense on LI would dictate, you buy a 1950's house, there's generally going to be some kind of issue with it.

Re: law suits after buying a house

Not correct. You are supposed to get an inspection...home sales are as is.