Seller concealed major plumbing problem - Maryland

[leadworks]

My state is Maryland.

We just bought and moved into a townhouse in Maryland. Shortly after moving in, we found that the water spigot on the rear of the house was turned off inside the house. I turned the water flow back on, and minutes later there was a terrible leak which was flooding the basement. I tracked it down to a busted water pipe leading to the rear outside spigot. The pipe apparently froze during the winter and split open. The busted part is inside the floor and not easily accessible without tearing the floor up. I believe the seller knew about it (how could she not?), and she failed to disclose the problem on the disclosure statement, thus committing fraud. As soon as the pipe thawed out, she would have noticed it because it floods the basement. Furthermore, the water to that line was turned off inside the house, so she must have turned it off to prevent it from flooding. The leak soaked inside our ceiling and walls, and the carpet in the basement is now permanently stained from where the water caused our metal filing cabinet to rust and stain it. The seller is now in Arizona. I do have her contact information. What legal recourse do I have?

[FarmerJ]

If it was turned off how can you know if the seller just left it off because they never used it ? DID your housing inspector turn it on to make sure it was working ? did the housing inspection report list it as working or not ? Im not going to ask why you didnt put that file cab up on some kind of blocking to allow it to dry up. BUT now how would you prove that the seller had to have known? Can some one determine if there was older leak damage for you ? BTW even if it was turned off it still could have frozen up by simply just having water in the line with out being bled. If the seller never used it they might not have been aware. ( my parents had front corner faucet turned off for 18 yrs, and Ill bet it still is off 30 yrs later, it didnt leak, in 55 the house had pvt well and softner, the back yard faucet was un softened and the front was on a line that was softened , he didnt want to pay for softened water to be used for watering, Ill bet that IF he ever sells that house he wont even think about telling the buyer , BTW the front faucet has been shut off since 1955, Its entirely possible it was just shut off with out being bled and not used since and had a freeze up long ago) To improve your claim it would help to have the area open and a plumber to determine where the leak is and to attempt to determine if there was old leak damage. The more information you have before seeing at atty the better she/he will be able to assist you.

[LindaP777]

Originally Posted by leadworks

The busted part is inside the floor and not easily accessible without tearing the floor up.

I doubt that. Plumbers can replace a long length of water pipe under a floor w/o tearing it up. You won't know until a profession looks at it.

Originally Posted by leadworks

I believe the seller knew about it (how could she not?), and she failed to disclose the problem on the disclosure statement, thus committing fraud.

Proving she knew about it would almost be impossible to prove. Check your inspection report and see what the inspectors said about it.

Originally Posted by leadworks

carpet in the basement is now permanently stained from where the water caused our metal filing cabinet to rust and stain it.

The stain is clearly not the sellers problem. You should have moved the furniture immediately and contacted your insurance company.

[leadworks]

By the time we found the water on the floor, the cabinet had already been sitting in it for hours, so it rusted before we even knew there was water there.

The inspector did turn the faucet on to make sure that it was working, and it did work, it just took a while for the leak to show up since it was hidden behind drywall. The inspector can't/won't inspect behind drywall, so he had no knowledge of the issue.

I see your point, that there is no way to prove that she knew about it, but at the least, she should've known about it. Although there is no doubt in my mind that she did know and concealed it. Too many things just point in that direction. For instance, she had a lot of landscaping and flowers in the back that would have needed watering, especially in this drought, plus there was a hose holder that she mounted back there on the deck next to the faucet. She was the original owner of the house. I also realized that the carpet in the basement is new, while the carpet in the rest of the house is older and more worn, another indication that it may have flooded before and she simply replaced the carpet.

I decided to call my insurance company and make a claim. They are sending a remediation company out to take care of the damaged drywall, carpet, and mold. Maybe they can look in there and based on the mold amount, determine if it had indeed flooded before in the past. I still don't know yet if the insurance is going to pay for it, I won't know until tomorrow. They definitely said they won't pay for the plumbing repair.