• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Legal recourse against seller for non disclosure of oil tank leak?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

K

kim-marie

Guest
New Jersey

We were supposed to close on a house over four months ago. Included in one of the contingences in the contact was a satifactory test on the (40 yr old) underground oil tank. The seller kept dragging his feet on agreeing to let us have the test. Then tried to put in the contract that if we did a pressure test we would be responsible for any leaks since they thought this would cause a hole. The real estate agent knew our lease was up and tried to get us to close on the house with just the transfer of the oil tank insurance. When it was finally agreed to let us test the tank we had a computerized test which told us the tank was leaking. After much waiting, the insurance company had the tank removed and now the state of NJ is involved because oil is in the ground water and well (house is lakefront) and it is a major cleanup. We are not going to buy the house, but we would like to sue to recover our losses and for aggravation since we believe the seller (& possibly the real estate agent) knew the tank was leaking and did not put it in the disclosure form. When we had the tank tested two months ago there was 300+ gallons in the tank, when the tank was removed it was empty and no one was living in the house. Plus there was plastic casing around the well. I don't believe the seller could not have known it was leaking. A previous buyer backed out of buying the house but we were never told why. Our costs involved were the title search, survey, inspection, lawyer fees, etc. Boxes have been piled in our apartment for four months. We planned for possible delays, but never imagined four months. We are now forced to take a year lease on a another apartment since our lease is up and we have been under a massive amount of stress not knowing where we are going to live. Do we have any legal recourse?
 



Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top