Post-Close Problems - My Exposure as Seller?

[fcolliga]

What is the name of your state? California.

Bear with me...this is a little complicated.

Closed Friday on my home in San Francisco. I was the seller. I had been residing in Seattle for the past several months while my contractor completed some remodeling work (new master BR suite) started a year ago, and he also helped prepare the home for sale (refinish hardwoods, paint, minor repairs, etc.). The house was empty of belongings (moved to storage in Feb).

House was put on the market May 17th. Sold in 3 days, well over list, with a fast closing (21 days). We did all of the necessary pre-listing disclosures, had it pre-inspected, etc. Buyers did not hire their own inspector -- rather they paid our inspector to walk them through the house and explain his report to them. They waived the inspection contingency and all other contingencies several days after that walk-through. 5 days before closing they did a final walk-through. They noted several items (like a drywall gouge and a missing tub access panel). We completed the requested repair items before closing. Patched the drywall. The tub panel was being fabricated and was almost done. We closed on Friday and the tiler came the next day and installed the tub panel.

Now the buyers are coming back to us with several complaints. One is minor and we agreed to do the work. Several other issues were disclosed items and we told them that we would not fix those. The biggest items relate to the tub access panel and the shower. They claim the tub access panel is not fabricated correctly and is installed poorly and they want it redone. My contractor is going to inspect it tomorrow to see what is up with that and, hopefully get that corrected.

The big potential liability area is with the shower. We installed a jetted tub over a marble tub deck. The tub has a 1 to 2 inch raised lip edge around it. Since the bathroom was not large enough to accommodate a tub and a separate shower stall, we opted to put a shower head over the jetted tub. We knew that with this arrangement we would need a method to confine shower water to the tub or tub deck. We knew any water falling on the tub deck would not drain to the tub because of the 1 to 2 inch tub lip. Our options for containing water were to 1) hang an oval curtain track on the ceiling over the tub and install a 360 degree shower curtain, or 2) install a glass shower partition at the shower-end of the tub. We chose to do the shower partition, which was later modified to a swinging partition/door at our contractor's suggestion -- to ease getting into and out of the shower.

Now the BIG problem. It appears that the shower door that was installed is not containing the water to the tub deck, and the water is flowing under and around the partition and onto the floor, creating a big mess when the buyers take a shower. We did not disclose this because we did not know about the problem. In fact, we moved out of the house before the shower was ever completed and have never even seen the shower door except in pictures. If it helps, you can see a pic of the tub here: [URL="http://home.comcast.net/~fcolliga/pix/tub.JPG"]http://home.comcast.net/~fcolliga/pix/tub.JPG[/URL]

The buyers are now saying we sold them a house with a non-functioning shower that will not drain properly into the tub. I sympathize with them greatly, and I am willing to work with them to find a reasonable solution that will work for both of us. I am very worried though that the buyers will not be reasonable about this and that they will insist that we redo the entire tub/shower, which would cost thousands of dollars.

My questions and concerns are, "What is my responsibility and liability as the seller when I did not know of this problem and, therefore, did not disclose it to the buyer?" "Was I remiss in not disclosing that water would accumulate on the tub deck and not drain into the tub (I thought that was obvious to any reasonable person)?" "Would I be held responsible for having made the design choice to install a shower door that does not do the job we thought it would?" "Is my contractor liable for this situation (i.e., construction defect)?" "If the seller and I cannot agree on a mutually acceptable solution, can I walk away and tell them it is their problem, or would I be held responsible at arbitration or in a law suit?"

As you can see, I am very worried about my exposure here, and any liability I might have for the current situation. I want to do the right thing, but don't want to lose my shirt in the process. Any guidance you folks can give me about this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Frank

What is the name of your state? California

[acmb05]

Since buyer waived inspection it is thier own fault for not noticeing a problem. It is the buyers problem now, however if I were you I would try to help them out if you can. I have to admit that from the pic that is a terrible design for that tub and shower. At the very least I would offer to close it in with glass all the way across the tub opening and make a runnoff into the tub.

Since the home sold for "well over list" I would assume you made a nice profit on it so try to be a little negotiable with them, but do not bend over backwards for them either.