property development problem

What is the name of your state? wisconsin

i purchase 2 acres of land to build a house on
when we started to excavate it was discovered that the land was developed with too much black dirt and no fill (sand)
as a result my excavation costs increased 5700 dollars
my excavator claims she has seen this problem before and it is the developers responsiblility to cover the costs or it should have been disclosed at time of close. my developer says it is not his fault but offered me 1000 bucks
should i take him to court

[HomeGuru]

[quote]Originally posted by kruegerd
[b]What is the name of your state? wisconsin

i purchase 2 acres of land to build a house on
when we started to excavate it was discovered that the land was developed with too much black dirt and no fill (sand)
as a result my excavation costs increased 5700 dollars
my excavator claims she has seen this problem before and it is the developers responsiblility to cover the costs or it should have been disclosed at time of close. my developer says it is not his fault but offered me 1000 bucks
should i take him to court

**A: there is no disclosure law for vacant land similar to selling a home. Did the developer have soil testing done, geo-technical engineering studies or bring in fill at any time? How would the developer know about the black dirt?

the developer is the one who put the black dirt there and his engineer admits it. according to my excavator the lot was not buildable in its present condition without significant extra excavation costs. no other lot in the subdivision had this problem, and my excavator has worked on several other of these lots

[HomeGuru]

[quote]Originally posted by kruegerd
[b]the developer is the one who put the black dirt there and his engineer admits it. according to my excavator the lot was not buildable in its present condition without significant extra excavation costs. no other lot in the subdivision had this problem, and my excavator has worked on several other of these lots

**A: oh, in that case, sue his butt for damages. Here is what you demand. Remedial specs written up to remediate the problem by a geo-technical engineer to include but not be limited to removal of all fill inferior black dirt material, backfill with approved engineering fill material in lifts acceptable to engineer, compaction testing and final approval by the engineer. I don't care if all the work costs $10K, make him pay.

the developer is of course a lawyer. i told him that we probably would end up in court. his response was that i would probably win in small claims court, but it would be appealed then i would have to hire and attorney. he said i may win but i would lose because it would cost me too much. based on your previous reply i assume this is for civil court not small claims, and is it possible to sue him for all my court costs as well?

[HomeGuru]

Oh boy, a developer with a law degree. That's the worse breed.
Forget about small claims court, hire an attorney and sue in regular claims and sue for court costs and legal fees.