Fraud in disclosure

Bought the house I am in and moved in first weekend in September. Last Saturday night my bathroom ceiling began to leak. I called the selling agent and the roofing contractor who were involved with the sale of this house. Finally, Monday I got a return call from the agent and said she would send the roofing contractor out. He said the leak on the roof was coming from the heating and air conditioning unit. He said he would fix it. I told him that I needed to have the insulation out of the attic that was probably saturated by now and he said for me not to worry about that, that it would dry. Red flags went up all around me and I knew something was fishy. Today is Thursday and I haven't heard from either the agent or the roofer. I asked the neighbors who were good friends the previous owner (who is deceased by the way. This was a probate sale) There had been problems with the roof 6-7 years ago and the owner was advised to put a new roof on. He said it was only ten years old and would last a few years more. In July 98, just before he died, he had a roofer from the area put on half a roof. The back half of the house was refoofed. The front half is still the 17 year old roof that was there. The problem lies with the old section of the roof. I went back and looked at the disclosure by the seller and the certification by the roof inspector. The seller said the roof was only 3 years old and the roofer said the maximum age was 4. I have the receipt (found in some papers that were left behind) that states a check was paid in July 98. I called the roofer that did the work in 98 and he told me that he tried to get the owner to put on a whole roof but that the owner said he didn't have the money for it right now and just wanted to fix the back half. So, the roofer did just that. When I bought the house, I was foolish and did not get an independent inspection myself and trusted what the agent, owner and roofing contractor were declaring. What is my recourse? I have owned a few houses in my life and I am so shocked and angry that someone could do that to another person. I don't feel I should have to pay for the repairs and I also feel that if the seller said the roof was only three years old, he should have to pay for a new roof on the old part he said was only three years old. Do I need to go straight to an attorney or should I make the agenty try to persuade the seller to make good on what he disclosed? Hasn't he broken the law by giving false information to sell this house? Please anyone, help me. I really don't know what to do.

Well, we sort of have the same sort of situation, if you read what I posted, called "property disclosure" by HNDuffin, you can see our problem. I am just as shocked and in disbelief as you are, except our seller didn't even let us know about the $95,500 worth of water damage that our new home sustained!!! Talk about a shock. So anyways, I'll let you read my story. I am in California, and I have been told by my agent as well as her broker, and many other sources, that we have a very legitimate case and can sue. However, our thing is that the seller agreed to fix the problem, and now isn't responding... and we are ready to take legal action. It is costing us $200 an hour for a lawyer, so I can tell him that we will be suing him for well over what it will cost to repair the bathroom! ($11,000) Anyways, I think you should try to get him to fix, or else. You have proof all over that he lied, and signed something that wasn't true. We as you, were foolish not to get a home inspection, but the termite inspector noticed a problem.... and he didn't take further action. So if we end up in court, we will be taking the pest inspector down too, for not demanding that the floor be pulled up to further inspect the problem. I wish you luck!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JRyan:
Bought the house I am in and moved in first weekend in September. Last Saturday night my bathroom ceiling began to leak. I called the selling agent and the roofing contractor who were involved with the sale of this house. Finally, Monday I got a return call from the agent and said she would send the roofing contractor out. He said the leak on the roof was coming from the heating and air conditioning unit. He said he would fix it. I told him that I needed to have the insulation out of the attic that was probably saturated by now and he said for me not to worry about that, that it would dry. Red flags went up all around me and I knew something was fishy. Today is Thursday and I haven't heard from either the agent or the roofer. I asked the neighbors who were good friends the previous owner (who is deceased by the way. This was a probate sale) There had been problems with the roof 6-7 years ago and the owner was advised to put a new roof on. He said it was only ten years old and would last a few years more. In July 98, just before he died, he had a roofer from the area put on half a roof. The back half of the house was refoofed. The front half is still the 17 year old roof that was there. The problem lies with the old section of the roof. I went back and looked at the disclosure by the seller and the certification by the roof inspector. The seller said the roof was only 3 years old and the roofer said the maximum age was 4. I have the receipt (found in some papers that were left behind) that states a check was paid in July 98. I called the roofer that did the work in 98 and he told me that he tried to get the owner to put on a whole roof but that the owner said he didn't have the money for it right now and just wanted to fix the back half. So, the roofer did just that. When I bought the house, I was foolish and did not get an independent inspection myself and trusted what the agent, owner and roofing contractor were declaring. What is my recourse? I have owned a few houses in my life and I am so shocked and angry that someone could do that to another person. I don't feel I should have to pay for the repairs and I also feel that if the seller said the roof was only three years old, he should have to pay for a new roof on the old part he said was only three years old. Do I need to go straight to an attorney or should I make the agenty try to persuade the seller to make good on what he disclosed? Hasn't he broken the law by giving false information to sell this house? Please anyone, help me. I really don't know what to do. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hire an attorney. You got a case.

Thank you so much for the advise. I contacted my attorney today and he said he would help. The agent also called me back and said that she didn't think it was necessary for me to go as far as an attorney. Although I know it will be an irritating time, I am going to see what they (agent and roofing contractor) do to correct the problem. In the meantime, I am giving copies of all my documents to my attorney. I, too, live in California and I know that the laws are a bit tougher on fraud and you don't get away with screwing the hell out of the buyer. There is recourse. Thank goodness. I like this site, I am going to tune in more often. Thanks again