Water damage in new house

[ncsarah]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina,
My daughter closed on a house yesterday. Water co. turned water on this morning. We went over around noon to the house. The seller, in moving out his fridge, had unscrewed the hose to the water/ice maker. Water was pouring all over the kitchen floor. It was running down the basement stairs, and when my son went in the basement to find a bucket or mop, water was dripping down all over the basement. The insulation is soaked. The floor is soaked. The laminate floor in the kitchen is ruined. Daugher called husband, who came from work, went down the basement, found the VALVE that had NOT been shut off by seller when seller moved out fridge.
My daughter's realtor wanted her to file a claim with HER insurance company. This isn't covered under the home warranty they bought. It would be $1000 deductible. And the insurance company, because this claim would be on the very DAY they were to move in-would be investigated. Sheesh.
I asked my daughter NOT to agree to anything until we seek legal advice. She will contact a real estate agent in the morning, but does she have a case?
Thank you to whomever answers this question!! She is very distraught.

 

[Zigner]

Why didn't she make sure all the water spigots/outlets were closed or sealed prior to turning on the water?

Yes, she should claim with her insurance. Her insurance can decide whether or not they wish to pursue the former owner, but I just don't see this as being the former owner's fault.

It will be a good idea to seek the advice of an attorney, but I just don't see your daughter as having a case against he former owner.

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina,
My daughter closed on a house yesterday. Water co. turned water on this morning. We went over around noon to the house. The seller, in moving out his fridge, had unscrewed the hose to the water/ice maker. Water was pouring all over the kitchen floor. It was running down the basement stairs, and when my son went in the basement to find a bucket or mop, water was dripping down all over the basement. The insulation is soaked. The floor is soaked. The laminate floor in the kitchen is ruined. Daugher called husband, who came from work, went down the basement, found the VALVE that had NOT been shut off by seller when seller moved out fridge.
My daughter's realtor wanted her to file a claim with HER insurance company. This isn't covered under the home warranty they bought. It would be $1000 deductible. And the insurance company, because this claim would be on the very DAY they were to move in-would be investigated. Sheesh.
I asked my daughter NOT to agree to anything until we seek legal advice. She will contact a real estate agent in the morning, but does she have a case?
Thank you to whomever answers this question!! She is very distraught.

I agree with Zigner. The former owner had to remove the refrigerator, but very likely was not contractually obligated to turn off the valve.

The first thing to know about one's new home is WHERE is the water shut-off valve. It's the homeowner's responsibility to check all over the place when the water is turned on.

 

[ncsarah]

I agree with Zigner. The former owner had to remove the refrigerator, but very likely was not contractually obligated to turn off the valve.

The first thing to know about one's new home is WHERE is the water shut-off valve. It's the homeowner's responsibility to check all over the place when the water is turned on.

I understand what you are saying. The hose to the fridge was the only thing that wasn't closed. If he unhooked the hose to take his fridge out of the house, and didn't go and shut the valve off to the hose that goes only to the fridge and not to anything else, then it seems that he should be the one who is responsible. I mean.. who wouldn't know that the hose running to the ice maker would need to be shut off just like everything else was shut off.

If you really don't think that it is the seller's negligence, then I guess she will HAVE to file a claim with her insurance and eat the cost of having it fixed. I really hate this. But, crap happens.

 

[Zigner]

I mean.. who wouldn't know that the hose running to the ice maker would need to be shut off just like everything else was shut off.

Your daughter?

 

[Silverplum]

I understand what you are saying. The hose to the fridge was the only thing that wasn't closed. If he unhooked the hose to take his fridge out of the house, and didn't go and shut the valve off to the hose that goes only to the fridge and not to anything else, then it seems that he should be the one who is responsible. I mean.. who wouldn't know that the hose running to the ice maker would need to be shut off just like everything else was shut off.

If you really don't think that it is the seller's negligence, then I guess she will HAVE to file a claim with her insurance and eat the cost of having it fixed. I really hate this. But, crap happens.

I agree with Zigner again.

 

[justalayman]

this is one of the problems whenever power, water, or gas is turned on in a home and why none of them should be turned on without somebody having access to the interior to make sure water valves and gas valves are shut off and that nothing odd happens when the power is turned back on.



if daughter or husband ordered the water turned on, the way I see it you have two possibilities:

1. daughter and husband are sol

2. water company bears some liability as they should not have turned on the water without access to the interior of the home.


I suspect the water company is going to deny any liability BUT depending on the situation, it might not be that simple and easy. I suspect a conversation with a lawyer might be the best move here.

 

[LdiJ]

Your daughter?

You make a very valid point, but any time that I have moved into a new place (and granted, its been a LONG time since I have moved) I have always arranged utility turn ons well in advance of moving in, with the expectation that the utilities would be functioning when I moved in. It would never occur to me that someone would disconnect something like an icemaker until their move out day, and I would expect that they would still want running water on their move out day, so I would expect that they would NEED to shut off the valve before disconnecting the icemaker.

If daughter was moving in the day of or the day after closing, then she might not have even had access to the premises to make sure that there would be no water spewing anywhere. On top of that, most homes these days are sold WITH appliances so that makes the situation doubly odd.

Therefore, in my opinion this is a bit of a freak set of circumstances. Its a home sold without appliances which is uncommon these days. Its a situation where obviously the water was already turned off when the former owners moved out, and a pretty normal set of circumstances where the water was turned on in the new owners name before the new owner actually moved in.

Therefore I do not think its a slam dunk in either direction as to who is liable. Its unlikely that either the buyer or the seller could/should/would have known that the potential for there to be flooding due to the disconnected icemaker even existed. Apparently none of them are plumbers.

However, daughter does need to make the initial claim with her homeowner's insurance and let them sort out who is liable...that is why one has homeowner's insurance.

However...my guess is that her insurance company is going to go after the seller...because the seller obviously knew that the water was turned off, and obviously did not think to shut off the valve...but in my opinion neither the seller nor the buyer were idiots here...and neither should be treated as such.

 

[justalayman]

I don't see anything that comes close to making the seller liable here. The house was in "inspection condition" upon closing and the sellers did not turn the water on. As you said, unless they were plumbers, how were they to know there were valves to turn off since it appears the water was off before they disconnected anything that would have clued them in to the need to close valves.


as I said before;

the utilities should never be turned on in a property without somebody having access to the interior to verify there are no issues, ya know, kind of like what happened here.


If the owner had utilities turned on without somebody being in the home they take it upon themselves the home is such that it is safe to turn on the utilities.

 

[LdiJ]

I don't see anything that comes close to making the seller liable here. The house was in "inspection condition" upon closing and the sellers did not turn the water on. As you said, unless they were plumbers, how were they to know there were valves to turn off since it appears the water was off before they disconnected anything that would have clued them in to the need to close valves.


as I said before;

the utilities should never be turned on in a property without somebody having access to the interior to verify there are no issues, ya know, kind of like what happened here.


If the owner had utilities turned on without somebody being in the home they take it upon themselves the home is such that it is safe to turn on the utilities.

Again...the buyer needs to let their insurance company handle things. I do not agree with you but its really immaterial if I do or not. We can debate this issue backwards and forwards but our opinions are basically irrelevant.