Input from HomeGuru sought!

[bmwr]

What is the name of your state?Virginia

PLEASE HELP! I have only two days before my defense claim is due!

In Dec '03, our neighborhood's private water system was purchased by our city. The old water company sent out a letter telling residents of the purchase in Jan. '04. In Feb. '04, we got a second letter from the city telling us of the purchase and advising us of "possible" connection fees; and that a public meeting would be held to discuss matter. A week later, we received a letter from our civic league saying a group of homeowners were going to fight any connection fees.

Due to personal matters (the then-recent death of our son), we did not get politically involved and took a wait-and-see attitude. (Under the circumstances, we could have cared less.)

NOTHING ELSE - NO OTHER LETTERS OR DOCUMENTS were sent to us or our neighbors. (I have two notarized affidavits from other neighbors corroborating this; and the head of public utilities is a witness who agrees no other correspondence was sent out). After a few months, we completely forgot about the issue.

In Aug. '04, my husband got a new job in another state; we put our house on the market and sold it immediately (great house; great price; great location; hot, hot market). We bent over backwards to help the new owners get into the house two weeks before our own closing (we lived in a motel) and even purchased them a home warrenty.

TWO WEEKS after we were in our new home (about a month AFTER our closing on the old house), we received a FORWARDED letter from our old city stating that THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL NOTICE that the connection fees are owed. The letter gave owners 6 months to pay the $1,060 fee in increments.

I immediately called the given phone number of public utilities and told them our situation and asked who owed the $$. The secretary said since we closed BEFORE the OFFICIAL NOTICE went out, the new owner must pay. I then gave her our new address for further info; and also the name of the new owner of our old house. I asked her who should notify the new owner, and she said public utilities would do so. I considered the matter closed.

Evidently, there was a screw-up at the public utilities dept. and the owner now claims he did not get notice of this connection fee until MAY, when the city sent him a disconnection notice.

NOW, he is suing us for the $1,060. His writ of complaint reads that he is suing us for "money owed public utilities that was not disclosed at the time of closing."

I have copies of the Jan. letter from our old water company about the sale (no connection fees mentioned) AND the Nov. 1 OFFICIAL NOTICE;
And again, since I don't have copies of the other two letters, I got notarized letters from two other neighbors who recall the same sequence of events as we do (neither of us have copies of those original letters from the city mentioning possible fees or the civic league letter).

I've will also be supeanoing the head of head of public utilities to testify that we did not owe anything as of the date of our closing; and that no other correspondence was issued between Feb. and November.

Last, I've downloaded the Virginia Code regarding disclosures, which SEEMS TO SAY that because we signed the residential property disclaimer statement, the purchaser agrees to receive the real property "as is" (the old "buyer beware" clause).

My question: can the new owner win?

My defense is simple - I did not KNOW of the connection fees until AFTER our closing and the arrival of this OFFICIAL NOTICE, so there was NOTHING TO DISCLOSE at our closing in Oct. '04.

My fear, however, is that we will be held liable for not being better citizens and keeping abreast of the situation. SHOULD we have known and disclosed POTENTIAL fees? How could we KNOW something we didn't KNOW? Is this negligence?

Your verdict??? Do I need anything else for my case???
HELP!

PS - If we had KNOWN of these fees prior to Oct. 26, we would simply have paid them at closing. This guy has been such a jerk, however (about other matters prior to closing), that now we don't want to pay him a dime. I know his "jerk-iness" isn't relavant to our case, but it's darn sure relavant to my passion about winning this case.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by bmwr

What is the name of your state?Virginia

PLEASE HELP! I have only two days before my defense claim is due!

In Dec '03, our neighborhood's private water system was purchased by our city. The old water company sent out a letter telling residents of the purchase in Jan. '04. In Feb. '04, we got a second letter from the city telling us of the purchase and advising us of "possible" connection fees; and that a public meeting would be held to discuss matter. A week later, we received a letter from our civic league saying a group of homeowners were going to fight any connection fees.

Due to personal matters (the then-recent death of our son), we did not get politically involved and took a wait-and-see attitude. (Under the circumstances, we could have cared less.)

NOTHING ELSE - NO OTHER LETTERS OR DOCUMENTS were sent to us or our neighbors. (I have two notarized affidavits from other neighbors corroborating this; and the head of public utilities is a witness who agrees no other correspondence was sent out). After a few months, we completely forgot about the issue.

In Aug. '04, my husband got a new job in another state; we put our house on the market and sold it immediately (great house; great price; great location; hot, hot market). We bent over backwards to help the new owners get into the house two weeks before our own closing (we lived in a motel) and even purchased them a home warrenty.

TWO WEEKS after we were in our new home (about a month AFTER our closing on the old house), we received a FORWARDED letter from our old city stating that THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL NOTICE that the connection fees are owed. The letter gave owners 6 months to pay the $1,060 fee in increments.

I immediately called the given phone number of public utilities and told them our situation and asked who owed the $$. The secretary said since we closed BEFORE the OFFICIAL NOTICE went out, the new owner must pay. I then gave her our new address for further info; and also the name of the new owner of our old house. I asked her who should notify the new owner, and she said public utilities would do so. I considered the matter closed.

Evidently, there was a screw-up at the public utilities dept. and the owner now claims he did not get notice of this connection fee until MAY, when the city sent him a disconnection notice.

NOW, he is suing us for the $1,060. His writ of complaint reads that he is suing us for "money owed public utilities that was not disclosed at the time of closing."

I have copies of the Jan. letter from our old water company about the sale (no connection fees mentioned) AND the Nov. 1 OFFICIAL NOTICE;
And again, since I don't have copies of the other two letters, I got notarized letters from two other neighbors who recall the same sequence of events as we do (neither of us have copies of those original letters from the city mentioning possible fees or the civic league letter).

I've will also be supeanoing the head of head of public utilities to testify that we did not owe anything as of the date of our closing; and that no other correspondence was issued between Feb. and November.

Last, I've downloaded the Virginia Code regarding disclosures, which SEEMS TO SAY that because we signed the residential property disclaimer statement, the purchaser agrees to receive the real property "as is" (the old "buyer beware" clause).

My question: can the new owner win?

My defense is simple - I did not KNOW of the connection fees until AFTER our closing and the arrival of this OFFICIAL NOTICE, so there was NOTHING TO DISCLOSE at our closing in Oct. '04.

My fear, however, is that we will be held liable for not being better citizens and keeping abreast of the situation. SHOULD we have known and disclosed POTENTIAL fees? How could we KNOW something we didn't KNOW? Is this negligence?

Your verdict??? Do I need anything else for my case???
HELP!

PS - If we had KNOWN of these fees prior to Oct. 26, we would simply have paid them at closing. This guy has been such a jerk, however (about other matters prior to closing), that now we don't want to pay him a dime. I know his "jerk-iness" isn't relavant to our case, but it's darn sure relavant to my passion about winning this case.

**A: your post is way to long for me to read.