Did I Act Improperly?

[otscotty]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

My wife and I recently sold our home. More than a year prior to the sale of the home, we had a problem with bats. They appeared one day and entered an opening beneath one of the eaves. We hadn't noticed this small opening. I was advised to seal up the opening with a foam sealant at night when the bats would be away. I did this. We never saw or heard bats again. I believe that the time between the arrival of the bats and the sealing of the opening was about ten days to two weeks. When we filled out our disclosure statement, we did not report this incident in the infestation section. We did disclose work we had done to treat termites and repair some termite damage. However, we were advised at the time that our brief encounter with bats (that had occurred a year or so prior) did not constitute an infestation and did not need to be disclosed.

Did we act improperly? Did our encounter with bats constitute an infestation? Thank you in advance for responding.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by otscotty

What is the name of your state? Mississippi

My wife and I recently sold our home. More than a year prior to the sale of the home, we had a problem with bats. They appeared one day and entered an opening beneath one of the eaves. We hadn't noticed this small opening. I was advised to seal up the opening with a foam sealant at night when the bats would be away. I did this. We never saw or heard bats again. I believe that the time between the arrival of the bats and the sealing of the opening was about ten days to two weeks. When we filled out our disclosure statement, we did not report this incident in the infestation section. We did disclose work we had done to treat termites and repair some termite damage. However, we were advised at the time that our brief encounter with bats (that had occurred a year or so prior) did not constitute an infestation and did not need to be disclosed.

Did we act improperly? Did our encounter with bats constitute an infestation? Thank you in advance for responding.

**A: you did not disclose the facts.

[otscotty]

Originally Posted by HomeGuru

**A: you did not disclose the facts.

Thanks so much for your response. I'd really like to have some clarification, however. You say that we didn't disclose the facts. Certainly, there are millions of facts that are never disclosed in any negotiation. The question is, of course, which facts are required by the disclosure statement. To be absolutely clear, are you saying that the incident with bats I described in my initial post would constitute an 'infestation' that should have been reported under the 'Infestation' section of the disclosure statement? Thanks again.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by otscotty

Thanks so much for your response. I'd really like to have some clarification, however. You say that we didn't disclose the facts. Certainly, there are millions of facts that are never disclosed in any negotiation. The question is, of course, which facts are required by the disclosure statement. To be absolutely clear, are you saying that the incident with bats I described in my initial post would constitute an 'infestation' that should have been reported under the 'Infestation' section of the disclosure statement? Thanks again.

**A: no, that's not what I am saying. Forget about the word infestation.

[otscotty]

Originally Posted by HomeGuru

**A: no, that's not what I am saying. Forget about the word infestation.

Believe me, I would love to forget about the word "infestation". Unfortunately, I'm being forced to consider exactly that wording. About six weeks after we sold our home, the buyer contacted our realtor to say that bats were in the home. He apparently asked the neighbors and discovered that we had previously dealt with bats as well. He concluded that we had never rid the house of bats. He believes that the bats were in the home for the previous two years. He is demanding that we pay in the neighborhood of $3000 for 'bat removal' and 'air purification'.

I don't see how it is possible that bats could have been in the home for two years without our knowing about it. We had encountered them once. The incident was a year prior to the sale of the house. It lasted for two weeks or so. I mentioned in my previous post that after sealing the opening one night, we never heard or saw bats again.

My wife and I have people in our home all the time. We have a large number of individuals willing to testify to the above timeline. When the bats arrived, there was no mistaking it. They could clearly be heard from inside the house. They could easily be seen coming and going from the rear corner of the house. Our frequent guests can also confirm that once I sealed the opening, the bats were never seen or heard again while we were in the home.

I think we have fairly strong evidence that bats were not in the home at the time the property was sold nor for the year prior to the sale of the home. Two home inspections were performed in the month or so prior to the sale of the home. We asked for one to deal with any unforeseen problems. In addition, the buyers had a home inspection performed. It was extremely thorough. The inspector used, among other things, a camera that could detect pockets of heat in the walls. The idea that we could have lived with bats for a year or more without knowing about it, and that two home inspections would have missed them as well, is simply unbelievable to me.

You see my problem, however. He is also claiming that we acted improperly by not reporting the previous incident with the bats. As far as I know, he may be correct. This is the first time I've ever sold a home. We were simply following the advice of our agent. We believed at the time that since we didn't have any current evidence of infestation, nor had we seen a bat for over a year, nor had the bats been present in the wall for more than 10-14 days when they were there, we were not required to disclose the incident. I now wish that we had - even if it wasn't required. I hate that it appears to the buyer that we were trying to hide something.

Nevertheless, we are likely to find ourselves in a courtroom in the near future. At best, we will be negotiating a settlement out of court. The buyer is, himself, a real estate attorney. He doesn't strike me as the type of guy who likes to settle out of court. So, it is important for me to know exactly where I have acted improperly, if I have. Any further light you (or anyone else) could shed on the situation would be greatly appreciated.

*Sorry for the long post. My shorter posts didn't result in my questions being answered. Perhaps more detail will help.

[PghREA]

You should have mentioned somewhere on the disclosure that you had a problem with bats that was corrected at the time and that you have not had a problem since (if that is the truth). Buyers do not get "freaked out" by things that have been disclosed to them. They have an opportunity to decide if, prior to purchasing the property, what ever is being disclosed will present a major problem for them if it should reoccur.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by otscotty

Did we act improperly? Did our encounter with bats constitute an infestation?

No one can answer that for you without more information. Presumably, you are now bringing this up as the buyer has filed a complaint. If correct, what is the EXACT complaint.

For example, if they are simply complaining of bats in the neighborhood, you have no obligation to disclose.
However, if they are complaining about 500 pounds of bat guano in the attic, you likely would have had an obligation to disclose.

[otscotty]

Originally Posted by JETX

No one can answer that for you without more information. Presumably, you are now bringing this up as the buyer has filed a complaint. If correct, what is the EXACT complaint.

For example, if they are simply complaining of bats in the neighborhood, you have no obligation to disclose.
However, if they are complaining about 500 pounds of bat guano in the attic, you likely would have had an obligation to disclose.

Thanks. The buyer is claiming that after having the bats removed, 10 pounds os guano was also removed. First, I have to trust that he's telling the truth about this. Secondly, I have no idea how long it would take for 10 pounds to accumulate. It would certainly depend upon the number of bats and the number of times bats had visited the location. It wouldn't surprise me if bats had been in the home several times over the years. All I know is that we only encountered bats once in the three years we owned the home. We dealt with them quickly and didn't hear or see them in the home again after that.

The buyer believes that bats were in the home at the time it was sold. He also believes that the 10 pounds of guano proves that the bats had been present for "at least two years". He believes that my wife and I knowingly lived with a bat infestation for two years and then sold the house to them without disclosing a current and long-standing infestation. Neither of these claims are true. However, I'm afraid that I've put myself in a difficult position by not disclosing the encounter with the bats that had occurred a year prior. I now believe that I should have disclosed the incident with the bats. However, does my failure to have done so leave me as vulnerable as I feel to his demands that we pay for 'bat removal and air purification' work he recently had done because of bats that entered the house after it was sold?

Thanks again for your input.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by otscotty

However, does my failure to have done so leave me as vulnerable as I feel to his demands that we pay for 'bat removal and air purification' work he recently had done because of bats that entered the house after it was sold?

You don't say what the amount of the demand is, but I would suggest negotiating a settlement. Clearly, with 10 pounds of guano, the buyer can show that this was a long-term problem (how many bats, how much guano, etc.) and since you admit to having known of the problem (at least that once), the assumption is clear that you should have taken care of the problem more than just sealing the opening.
Settle, get a release and move on.

[otscotty]

Originally Posted by JETX

You don't say what the amount of the demand is, but I would suggest negotiating a settlement. Clearly, with 10 pounds of guano, the buyer can show that this was a long-term problem (how many bats, how much guano, etc.) and since you admit to having known of the problem (at least that once), the assumption is clear that you should have taken care of the problem more than just sealing the opening.
Settle, get a release and move on.

Thanks for your help.

[HomeGuru]

good work JETX.

signed,

Batman