Problems discovered after closing

[michele2303]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I bought a house 2 months ago and have recently run into some problems. Three weeks after we moved in our sewer backed up in the basement. We called the city, they looked, problem not in their lines. Then we called a plumber. He came and we spent $179.00 to get it fixed. Two weeks later it did it again and we called the plumber, they came and fixed it, another $50.00. It happened again the other day. Haven't called the plumber. My question is, can we get the previous owners to pay for this? Our city's water dept says they recieved 5 calls from this residence concerning the sewer in the last year. We were never told anything about a problem. Also, we have come to find out that the inspection done of the house (we have a FHA-HUD loan, so I guess it's a pretty extensive inspection), did not include the roof. We were told by prev. owners it had 2 years left on it, and HUD required someone to come look at. Previous owners just had a friend (who works in roofing) sign a paper saying it had 2 years left. He didn't even look at it! What can we do? Sorry this is so lengthy, just want to get accurate responses. Thanks in advance.

 

[qdaemon]

This is not a direct reply, but

It is common in this neck o' the woods for the buyer to get a home warranty. Costs about $500 and sometimes seller pays all or part. By reading this forum it seems as though this is not very common eslewhere as I am seeing lots of posts like this. What about it Homeguru, wouldn't it be a good idea in most cases to purchase this bit of "insurance". So far this buyer has paid less than that but the problem isn't fixed yet...

As far as the roof goes if someone told me there were 2 years left on it I would consider it shot. Of course I would have had my own inspector look at it.

 

[michele2303]

There is nothing wrong with the roof, it doesn't leak or anything. I just mentioned it to show you how "shifty" everything seemed. Of course, none of the roof talk came out until after we had closed on the house. We closed May 1st and took possession on May 24th. I know now we were pretty idiotic in the whole home buying process. This is our first home, we are both 22. We are not complete morons, but we trusted our loan officer and the previous owners (they were good friends of ours). We didn't even use a real estate agent. As an added bonus, we bought furniture from the previous owners for $500.00. We didn't have the money at the time when they moved (they are currently in TN). We had a verbal agreement about when the money would be sent. One day before I sent the check, the sewer backed up and my fiance said to hold the check. I did. My fiance wanted to use the money to pay the plumber, so we did. Do they have any legal actions they can take, or can we do anything to insure that the money we owed them can be used to pay the plumber (meaning we never pay the prev owners)? Thanks again.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

I bought a house 2 months ago and have recently run into some problems. Three weeks after we moved in our sewer backed up in the basement. We called the city, they looked, problem not in their lines. Then we called a plumber. He came and we spent $179.00 to get it fixed. Two weeks later it did it again and we called the plumber, they came and fixed it, another $50.00. It happened again the other day. Haven't called the plumber. My question is, can we get the previous owners to pay for this? Our city's water dept says they recieved 5 calls from this residence concerning the sewer in the last year. We were never told anything about a problem.

**A: if the Seller did not disclose this sewer problem, then the Seller is liable. Read your Seller disclosure law. Did the Seller even provide you a written disclosure statement. You were at a disadvantage because you did not use a Realtor or real estate attorney.

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Also, we have come to find out that the inspection done of the house (we have a FHA-HUD loan, so I guess it's a pretty extensive inspection), did not include the roof.

**A: you should have hired your own home inspector.
In addition, the real estate appraiser should have inspected the roof per FHA appraisal guidelines. Review your real estate appraisal.
Also read HomeBuyer's Protection Act www.hud.gov
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We were told by prev. owners it had 2 years left on it,

**A: then that was your warning, your heads up, your red flag. You should have asked more questions, got a home inspection or a roof inspection from a licensed roofing contractor. And made sure you got the written inspection report as evidence of the inspection.
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and HUD required someone to come look at.

**A: did you ask who from HUD looked at the roof? Did you ask for a copy of the insepction report? Did you even talk to the HUD inspector?
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Previous owners just had a friend (who works in roofing) sign a paper saying it had 2 years left. He didn't even look at it!

**A: then that is fraud.
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What can we do? Sorry this is so lengthy, just want to get accurate responses. Thanks in advance.

**A: contact a real estate attorney that specializes in seller disclosure litigation.

 

[HomeGuru]

This is not a direct reply, but

It is common in this neck o' the woods for the buyer to get a home warranty. Costs about $500 and sometimes seller pays all or part. By reading this forum it seems as though this is not very common eslewhere as I am seeing lots of posts like this. What about it Homeguru, wouldn't it be a good idea in most cases to purchase this bit of "insurance". So far this buyer has paid less than that but the problem isn't fixed yet...

As far as the roof goes if someone told me there were 2 years left on it I would consider it shot. Of course I would have had my own inspector look at it.

**A: a home warranty is a very good idea. I always recommend both a home inspection and a home warranty.
In this thread, I sure the warranty would have helped the sewer issues but not the roof. Buyers need to review the inclusions and exclusions in the various home warranty plans because the plan does not cover everything. Major cost items are not covered such as foundation settlement, structural damage, roof leaks etc.

 

[underthesun]

i have about 50,000 dollars in damages to the property i bought. If its any consolation, Dont sweat the small stuff.!