House lemon law,Georgia

[3947]

I have owned this house for the past 3 years. When I bought the house there was a crack in the brick exterior of the house, the person who we bought the house from is a realtor in town. They got an engineers letter that stated that the crack in the brick appeared to be just from normal settleing of the 30 year old house, although they would only know for sure by watching the house over time. I have owned the house for 3 years. In the last year cracks have appeared above almost every door in the interior of the house. I believe that the cracks were preexisting and were painted over by the owner at the time. Is there any way I can go back on the previous owner? Is there a house lemon law in Georgia? Did the engineers letter make them not responsible for the condition of the house? I am in the process of trying to sell the house and I am concerned about my responsibility to the next buyer. In my disclosure statment I have claimed that I have noticed no significant settleing of the house. I believe that the cracks were preexisting and have just started to crack back through. Should I be worried about legal actions against me when I sell the house? Is there anything I can do?Does the engineers letter make the previous owner exempt of any responsibility of the houses condition when she sold it to me? HELP!

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 3947:
I have owned this house for the past 3 years. When I bought the house there was a crack in the brick exterior of the house, the person who we bought the house from is a realtor in town. They got an engineers letter that stated that the crack in the brick appeared to be just from normal settleing of the 30 year old house, although they would only know for sure by watching the house over time. I have owned the house for 3 years. In the last year cracks have appeared above almost every door in the interior of the house. I believe that the cracks were preexisting and were painted over by the owner at the time. Is there any way I can go back on the previous owner? Is there a house lemon law in Georgia? Did the engineers letter make them not responsible for the condition of the house? I am in the process of trying to sell the house and I am concerned about my responsibility to the next buyer. In my disclosure statment I have claimed that I have noticed no significant settleing of the house. I believe that the cracks were preexisting and have just started to crack back through. Should I be worried about legal actions against me when I sell the house? Is there anything I can do?Does the engineers letter make the previous owner exempt of any responsibility of the houses condition when she sold it to me? HELP!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Seller did the correct thing by hiring an engineer to provide an inspection report. That is smart risk reduction on the part of the Seller/real estate agent. You should hire your own engineer to do the same thing. Do not second guess any causes and conditions just to have something to write that sounds good. The information in the disclosure statement must be accurate and suported by facts. Thus only write down what you know, not what you think or guess. There is no house lemon law.

You must state the facts on the disclosure statement as you know and are aware of them. Include your own engineers report as part of the disclosure.



[This message has been edited by HomeGuru (edited October 10, 2000).]