Serious Furnace Duct Problem. What can I do?

[hobie89]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I recently bought a house about 3 months ago. The house has had 1 previous owner, and the house is about 5-6 years old. A few weeks ago, I turned on the air-conditioner and it wasn't cooling the house down. I had company which original Air-Conditioning system come out to check on the problem.

They found out that there were problems with the outdoor compressor. But, things still didn't seem right. Little air was coming out of the ducts.

After further investigation, I found out that THERE IS NO AIR RETURN going to the furnace! There is a duct which goes up toward the ceiling to a "connection box" (I'm not sure what else to call it), but there are no ducts connecting to the box. In other words, the furnace has been working for 6 years without return air!

What do I do? I talked with the previous owner, and they said they didn't know about it, and honestly, I believe them. Enough air comes out of the furnace (from whatever cracks are in the "box") which may cool the house down once the compressor is fixed. But, I feel like the city inspectors or the hired whole house inspector should have caught this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HomeGuru]

Q: What do I do?

A: fix it.

 

[hobie89]

Very funny.

Obviously it needs fixing, but I'm posting on your advice site for legal advice. The estimate to fix this was $9000. Since the previous owners did not disclose this information, and I had a whole house inspector 'ok' the heating/airconditioning (not to mention this passed city inspections), I don't feel responsible. I feel that I did everything a non-expert like myself was supposed to do to know what the condition of the furnace was like when I bought the house. Everyone told me the furnace system was ok, but it's not, and I'm mad! Please help me with legal advice. Thanks.

 

[FarmerJ]

Hob most furnaces have 2 sets of connections to the houses ductwork system . (example for home with basement ) First one comes off the top going to a plenum that connects to the ductwork that distributes heated /cooled air . 2nd one will go to near the base connecting sideways . The only exception i have seen is a few homes where the furnace has a huge filter door with some type of screening where no cold air returns are used and that type is mostly in homes that are only one level with no basement . Did the repair person you mention tell you that you have no cold air returns ?. If indeed you can prove for fact your furnace was supposed to have them consult with a real estate attorney .

 

[hobie89]

Yes, the 'repair person' (president of a heating/cooling installation company) said I have no return air. And, it's obvious even to the average person that the furnace air return does not connect to anything.

I guess I will talk to a real estate attorney. I was hoping for some helpful legal advice here at your free site, though. Thanks for your time.

 

[HomeGuru]

Very funny.

Obviously it needs fixing, but I'm posting on your advice site for legal advice. The estimate to fix this was $9000. Since the previous owners did not disclose this information, and I had a whole house inspector 'ok' the heating/airconditioning (not to mention this passed city inspections), I don't feel responsible. I feel that I did everything a non-expert like myself was supposed to do to know what the condition of the furnace was like when I bought the house. Everyone told me the furnace system was ok, but it's not, and I'm mad! Please help me with legal advice. Thanks.

**A: you have a cause of action against the Seller and the home inspector.
If the home inspector has errors and omissions insurance, file against his policy so that his insurance can pay for the total repair due to his negligence.

 

[hobie89]

ok, thank you very much. I haven't heard about the errors and omissions policy before. I'll definately check on this. Thanks for the advice!

 

[HomeGuru]

Good luck to ya.