major defects in rehabbed house

I bought a house in Illinois in May, 1998 that had been rehabbed by the owners. I did not have an inspection done. The dry wall began to separate. I thought it was a bad taping job and repaired the tape. It happened again....worse, and in every room. I had someone come in to look into why this was happening. He said the house is settling because the footings in the crawlspace show damage from being underwater, probably a long time plumbing problem. This was not disclosed at any time by the buyer. They obviously just put up new dry wall to disguise the major problem. Is there any use contacting a lawyer after a yeaar and a half and since I did not have a professional inspection done?

Did you buy the house on an "as is" basis? Did the seller fill out and sign a form disclosing any latent or patent defects? Many states have protections for buyers against sellers who fail to disclose material defects on properties with a several year statute of limitation. (I don't know what the laws of Illinois are.) I would set up an initial consultation with a lawyer and bring copies of all of the relevant documents from your sale. Typically there's little or no charge for a short consultation. There are names of attorneys on this website who practice real estate law in Illinois which you may want to contact. If you end up suing, you should also demand attorney fees.