Sellers Disclosure not true

[gibdond89]

I purchased a house in Michigan 13 months ago. The sellers disclosure said nothing about
water leaking into the basement. We had water leak into the basement today. Is there any laws in Michigan about discolsures not being correct? How do i go about getting this problem taken care of?
Thanks Dennis

[JETX]

Originally Posted by gibdond89

I purchased a house in Michigan 13 months ago. The sellers disclosure said nothing about
water leaking into the basement. We had water leak into the basement today. Is there any laws in Michigan about discolsures not being correct?

Yes.

How do i go about getting this problem taken care of?

Start by getting ALL the FACTS (not rantings)... and then go talk with a local attorney.

[asil8170]

Hi, Dennis. First let me say that I AM NOT associated with any legal profession but I DO HAVE extensive experience with this sort of problem.

A little over 2 years ago, I bought my first house. Before closing, I had an inspection done by a member of the ASHI, which came out "completely clean." The seller's disclosure also revealed no information that would cause me to raise questions about any "defects" in this property. Three weeks after closing, we experienced a major flood in our basement after a hard rain. At that time, I was not aware of how the flood occurred. Since I had not "officially" moved in yet, I was not there when it happened. I found out later, with floods #2 through#7, that the window wells filled up with water which then poured in around the sliding windows (that were set so loosely in their frames that a large rat could have slipped in around them...a slight exaggeration) Anyway, to make a long story short, I am now in a legal battle with the previous owners for failure to disclose a known defect. "Known" is the critical word here. It is now my responsibility to prove that this was a defect that the sellers knew about OR should have known about. So far, that hasn't been too hard. When I moved in, 5 days after closing (because the sellers wanted time to have the carpets cleaned and stretched, i.e. try to get rid of the evidence) I found huge rust stains on the basement carpet. It looked as though their bookcase had been "glued" to the floor with rust! There are many other pieces of evidence that we've revealed in the 2 1/2 years since that first flood, but I won't go into those now. What you need to know is how things will (or should) proceed from here.

1. First, let me ask if you and the seller were represented by real estate agents?
2. Did you have a professional home inspection done?
3. If so, did it reveal anything "questionable?"
4. If so, DID you question the seller's about it?
5. If so, did you get their answers in writing?
6. What was the cause of the leak?
Let's start with that for now. When those have been answered, we can go on.
Just let me say that, unless the seller's ADMIT (ha) to knowing about the problem, you are most likely in for some sort of legal confrontation...for which you will probably need some sort of legal representation.
Again, let me say that I have no other legal background other than hours and hours of research and time on the client's side of an attorney's desk. But, I hope that I can help.

[HomeGuru]

good questions, now where's the answers.