Water damage found hours after closing

[yodelhead]

What is the name of your state? CT

Summary: House inspection--well equipment old/needs replaced but working ok. Had closing. 2 hours later discover tank has been leaking, about 15' sqft of carpet soaked so it puddles, mold under carpet/padding, walls moldy and mushy, paneling/molding warped. Seller denies any water problem. Our realtor and sellers realtor saw damage. Seller refuses to do anything.

Details: We made an offer on a house, and had it inspected 8/02. The house has a well, and we had a well inspector check the equipment. He said it was old and at the end of its life, would have to be replaced, but was working fine. We asked the seller to replace it, declined.

Went thru with the purchase in 10/02. We signed contracts at our lawyers' prior to the walkthru since seller was still moving out. Money to be held in escrow til walkthru confirmed. After closing went to house. Seller's son was still moving items out, but overall everything looked fine--toilets flushed, lites work, dishwasher runs, all the stuff the realtor told us to check. Son said he'd be gone in an hour. We called our lawyer and said everything looked fine.

We return later, our kids have their shoes off, and ask why the floor is wet--meaning, carpeting in the lower level (of a raised ranch), adjacent to the small utility room where the well equipment is. Well tank is leaking (like a "loose-hose" squirt), spraying water against the walls, we pulled back the carpeting and about 14 sqft area soaked, moldy, you could stand on it and make a puddle. Walls around well room moldy/mushy. Wood paneling/molding all warped.

Call our lawyer, seller's lawyer left on vacation. Lawyer wrote up situation and sent to seller's lawyer. They refuse to do anything, saying it happened after the closing, they would have seen that amount of damage. Called my homeowner's ins, they came out a few days later and said with that amount of damage it had to occur before the closing, it's her fault. And wrote up $5800 damage, after depreciation only $3500 (which will barely replace the carpeting).

After a long time got seller's homeowner's info and called them. They said the owner denies any knowledge of this, and if there was that amount of damage, why didn't we notice it; if we knew the tank was an issue why didn't we check it at the walkthru?

My points: well wasn't leaking at inspection, contract states typical stuff that owner must maintain house etc til sale. 2 witnesses to the leak and amount of damage found hours after closing. Water damage only noticable with shoes off, wood damage not noticable unless in the well room, or close look at paneling in a dimly lit room. There was no smell, aside from a slight musty odor we attributed to 40-yr old carpeting (and 80-yr old lady ;-).

Lawyers are a pain--my closing lawyer wrote letters and made calls, said we have to sue, turned it over to litigation associate who doesn't return calls. After reading up on small claims, seems easy enough to do it myself.

Questions:
1) Any other points to pursue before small claims?
2) Can I push my lawyer to do more for me?
3) Lawyer, realtor, anyone else liable?
4) What is the brief wording I would use in the summary of the small claims form? "Breach of contract, failed to properly maintain property til sale, did not disclose damage"
5) Any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance--Yodelhead

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? CT

Summary: House inspection--well equipment old/needs replaced but working ok. Had closing. 2 hours later discover tank has been leaking, about 15' sqft of carpet soaked so it puddles, mold under carpet/padding, walls moldy and mushy, paneling/molding warped. Seller denies any water problem. Our realtor and sellers realtor saw damage. Seller refuses to do anything.

Details: We made an offer on a house, and had it inspected 8/02. The house has a well, and we had a well inspector check the equipment. He said it was old and at the end of its life, would have to be replaced, but was working fine. We asked the seller to replace it, declined.

Went thru with the purchase in 10/02. We signed contracts at our lawyers' prior to the walkthru since seller was still moving out. Money to be held in escrow til walkthru confirmed. After closing went to house. Seller's son was still moving items out, but overall everything looked fine--toilets flushed, lites work, dishwasher runs, all the stuff the realtor told us to check. Son said he'd be gone in an hour. We called our lawyer and said everything looked fine.

We return later, our kids have their shoes off, and ask why the floor is wet--meaning, carpeting in the lower level (of a raised ranch), adjacent to the small utility room where the well equipment is. Well tank is leaking (like a "loose-hose" squirt), spraying water against the walls, we pulled back the carpeting and about 14 sqft area soaked, moldy, you could stand on it and make a puddle. Walls around well room moldy/mushy. Wood paneling/molding all warped.

Call our lawyer, seller's lawyer left on vacation. Lawyer wrote up situation and sent to seller's lawyer. They refuse to do anything, saying it happened after the closing, they would have seen that amount of damage. Called my homeowner's ins, they came out a few days later and said with that amount of damage it had to occur before the closing, it's her fault. And wrote up $5800 damage, after depreciation only $3500 (which will barely replace the carpeting).

After a long time got seller's homeowner's info and called them. They said the owner denies any knowledge of this, and if there was that amount of damage, why didn't we notice it; if we knew the tank was an issue why didn't we check it at the walkthru?

My points: well wasn't leaking at inspection, contract states typical stuff that owner must maintain house etc til sale. 2 witnesses to the leak and amount of damage found hours after closing. Water damage only noticable with shoes off, wood damage not noticable unless in the well room, or close look at paneling in a dimly lit room. There was no smell, aside from a slight musty odor we attributed to 40-yr old carpeting (and 80-yr old lady ;-).

Lawyers are a pain--my closing lawyer wrote letters and made calls, said we have to sue, turned it over to litigation associate who doesn't return calls. After reading up on small claims, seems easy enough to do it myself.

Questions:
1) Any other points to pursue before small claims?
2) Can I push my lawyer to do more for me?
3) Lawyer, realtor, anyone else liable?
4) What is the brief wording I would use in the summary of the small claims form? "Breach of contract, failed to properly maintain property til sale, did not disclose damage"
5) Any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance--Yodelhead

**A: you have a regular claims action and not a small claims action. Hire a real estate litigation attorney.

 

[HUD-1]

Check your seller disclosure form. In CT, box 6 deals with plumbing problems, box 15 deals with basement water/seepage/dampness and box 27 asks about rot and water damage. If they lied on this form and you can prove it, you would have a good case.

 

[yodelhead]

HomeGuru--thanks for reading through my lengthy post. I did speak to my lawyers about how to proceed. They said regular court will take 2+yrs to get a court date, and $$ fees and court costs. Small claims about 2 mos, he would represent me for $700 (but after some research I will do it myself). Also no strong opinions on whether I would be able to get the full amount or depreciated amount. No opinion on whether I can get further damages. Hearing my wife complain about the @#$ old lady and the @#$ pit of a house we ended up with, no place for kids to play, I should get something. I suppose the best bet is to "shop around" this case to a few good lawyers and get more opinions?

 

[yodelhead]

HUD1--Good point, but the equipment was not leaking and was in working condition at the time she put it on the market and signed/dated the disclosure, and at the time of the inspection. Rough guess says this happened within a week or two of the closing. I don't think the seller spent much time in that room, and doubtfully in bare feet either. Proving she knew it might be difficult. Your average person would hear the leak, notice the squish under foot, her son might have noticed something, who knows. She vehemently denies any knowledge. All she had to do was report this to her homeowners--but since she denies it, why should her homeowners fight to pay a claim to me? Thanks!

 

[HomeGuru]

Good luck to you.