Real estate agent misconduct?

[zonabb]

I live in New York state and closed on a home last August. It may be hard to believe, but this story is all too real. Please follow closely..

My wife and I didn't have a realtor so we agreed to use the sellers realtor, in the interest of ease. However, the agent didn't have a lot of answers to our questions, most importantly about a side porch that was encroaching on the neighbors property. He said he was sure it wasn't but the survey, conducted after we signed an agreement, showed that it was. I asked what my options were and was told a fee policy to cover me in case of enforced removal. I was told it would cover any enforced removal.

Well, this is where it get interesting. The house next door, whihc we were encroaching on, was for sale. It sold and a stipulation in the buyers mortgage commitment was that my porch had to be removed they would release the mortgage. The seller, was police officer in the city of our residence. His lawyer is the city lawyer. His lawyer used his power in city hall to have me served with removal papers for the porch. The seller of my house was a city official and built the porch without a permit, thereby allowing the city to force the removal for an illegal building. My sellers attorney is the city judge. My seller, as an official, knowingly built the porch without a permit, which was never disclosed to me. I assumed it was legally built and violated current zoning codes but not codes during its construction (about 20 years ago). The amazing thing is the city judge, acting for the seller, knowing signed a fee policy on his client's behalf stating the he was aware of the violating encorachment. Then the city attorney turns around on his clients behalf and sends the building inspector to my house with a demoltion notice.

After the demolition notice, the buyer next door is harping on his attorney to make sure my porch gets removed so he can get his mortgage. The city attorney abuses his power to see that it happens. Meanwhile, the insurance company denies my claim on the fee policy because it doesn't covering zoning violations, which I specifically asked about and was told was not a problem.

I removed the porch but now I come to find out that the real estate agent who represented myself and the seller was the sellers son-in-law. He never disclosed it to me, which would have completely changed the way I approached this sale. The agent told me the basement didn;t leak and it does, he said there was nothing wrong with the garage and it leaks like crazy and is esstentially useless.

NYS had a new disclosure law go into effect on March 1st which does me no good but I feel like I was purposefully lied to and duped by the real estate agent and the seller. I bought a house and currently it's worth less than when I bought. I removed and enclosed sun porch and have a garage and basement that are more like oceans than useful space.

Do I have any options or recourse against the seller and real estate agent. The fact that it was never disclosed to me that he was the seller's son-in-law stinks of unprofessionalism, conflict of interest, and premeditated lying.

Thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

I live in New York state and closed on a home last August. It may be hard to believe, but this story is all too real. Please follow closely..
**A: after reading your entire post, I don't find the events hard to believe.
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My wife and I didn't have a realtor so we agreed to use the sellers realtor, in the interest of ease.
**A: I am sure that you now know that that was the worse excuse.
Check to see if there was a written dual agency disclosure that you signed agreeing to the fact that you were not represented by a Realtor.
************



However, the agent didn't have a lot of answers to our questions, most importantly about a side porch that was encroaching on the neighbors property.
**A: that should have been a big red flag where you stop and say, "Hmmm, we better hire our own attorney at this point."
*************



He said he was sure it wasn't but the survey, conducted after we signed an agreement, showed that it was. I asked what my options were and was told a fee policy to cover me in case of enforced removal. I was told it would cover any enforced removal.
**A: did you contact the insurance company to see if in fact that was true, did you read the entire policy including the exclusions and fine print?
**********
Well, this is where it get interesting. The house next door, whihc we were encroaching on, was for sale. It sold and a stipulation in the buyers mortgage commitment was that my porch had to be removed they would release the mortgage. The seller, was police officer in the city of our residence. His lawyer is the city lawyer. His lawyer used his power in city hall to have me served with removal papers for the porch. The seller of my house was a city official and built the porch without a permit, thereby allowing the city to force the removal for an illegal building. My sellers attorney is the city judge. My seller, as an official, knowingly built the porch without a permit, which was never disclosed to me. I assumed it was legally built and violated current zoning codes but not codes during its construction (about 20 years ago). The amazing thing is the city judge, acting for the seller, knowing signed a fee policy on his client's behalf stating the he was aware of the violating encorachment. Then the city attorney turns around on his clients behalf and sends the building inspector to my house with a demoltion notice.

After the demolition notice, the buyer next door is harping on his attorney to make sure my porch gets removed so he can get his mortgage. The city attorney abuses his power to see that it happens. Meanwhile, the insurance company denies my claim on the fee policy because it doesn't covering zoning violations, which I specifically asked about and was told was not a problem.

I removed the porch but now I come to find out that the real estate agent who represented myself and the seller was the sellers son-in-law. He never disclosed it to me, which would have completely changed the way I approached this sale.
**A: why? You agreed up front and all along to no agency or legal representation. The Seller's Realtor did not represent you so it should not matter
if the Seller was related to the Realtor.
********


The agent told me the basement didn;t leak and it does, he said there was nothing wrong with the garage and it leaks like crazy and is esstentially useless.

NYS had a new disclosure law go into effect on March 1st which does me no good but I feel like I was purposefully lied to and duped by the real estate agent and the seller. I bought a house and currently it's worth less than when I bought. I removed and enclosed sun porch and have a garage and basement that are more like oceans than useful space.

Do I have any options or recourse against the seller and real estate agent. The fact that it was never disclosed to me that he was the seller's son-in-law stinks of unprofessionalism, conflict of interest, and premeditated lying.

Thanks

**A: yes, you do have options. Based on your facts, there may be occasions whereby the Realtor violated State licensing laws and Realtor Code of Ethics. The Seller is guilty in several instances but with respect to the porch, you knew prior to closing of the encroachment.

This is a good example of why Buyers should use their own real estate agent and/or attorney. You would have saved yourself a lot of grief. Now you either do nothing or hire a bulldog attorney to go after the entire City.

 

[zonabb]

Yes, I did know prior to closing that the porch was encroaching. However, I was not made aware that the seller knowingly built the porch without a permit (because he was a city official). Had that been disclosed, it would have been a different story and made the fee policy not an option due to it not covering illegally built structures. The porch had been up for over 20 years and the home next door been sold at least 4 times during that span without issue. Hence, I assumed this was a legally built structure.

Now knowing that the realtor was the seller's son-in-law and representing me at the same, I feel this whole sale was a farse and I was knowingly, or conveniently, not told everything.

 

[HomeGuru]

Yes, I did know prior to closing that the porch was encroaching.
**A: then that should have been a red flag. If I was the Buyer, I would have said, "ok, time out, there is an encroachment. Was this porch built with a permit, if so, were the plans and specs followed, who designed and built this porch, was there a registered architect or engineer involved, was the contruction done by a licensed contractor, does the porch conform to building and zoning codes, let's see the Building dept records, let's have an inspection done.......?
**********


However, I was not made aware that the seller knowingly built the porch without a permit (because he was a city official). Had that been disclosed, it would have been a different story and made the fee policy not an option due to it not covering illegally built structures. The porch had been up for over 20 years and the home next door been sold at least 4 times during that span without issue. Hence, I assumed this was a legally built structure.
**A: that's your mistake once again. You assumed rather than investigated and verified the real facts.
************
Now knowing that the realtor was the seller's son-in-law and representing me at the same, I feel this whole sale was a farse and I was knowingly, or conveniently, not told everything.

**A: you are totally correct. It was a farce and you were taken.