What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massahusetts
My husband and I recently purchased a cottage in Massachusetts that needs quite a bit of work and was sold in "as is" condition. There was a water leak in the crawlspace which appeared to be coming from the underground well pipe. Before we purchased the home, the seller's real estate agent told us that the seller had been trying to get someone to look at the leak and give them a quote to repair it. She told us that she would keep trying so that we would have an idea of the cost to repair the pipe once we took ownership. The owner had passed away and the cottage was vacant so they had turned off the well pump to keep the basement from flooding.
A couple of weeks later she called to say that the leak had been repaired by a plumber that she found and that the cost was $154.00. She said that we were responsible for paying the bill. We were skeptical that he had so quickly repaired the pipe and concerned that we had not received a quote beforehand to approve. This was all still before the closing.
Shortly thereafter we were granted access to the house before the closing to clean and remove carpets. We inspected the repair and found the crawlspace and basement flooded and the well pump overheated. The plumber was obviously so confident in his work that he had left the pump on with no one at the house. We're still not sure of what the plumber did but he didn't fix the original leak. We unplugged the pump so that it wouldn't burn out and waited until after the closing to investigate. At which time we found the leak ourselves and repaired the problem in about 1 1/2 hours.
We did receive an invoice from the plumber but in the confusion of the closing it was overlooked. Last week the plumber called and left a beligerant message about the past due invoice (it has only been 45 days since the work was done) and threatened to sue. My husband and I discussed the situation and decided that we'd try to negotiate the price to avoid going to small claims court. My husband spoke with the plumber yesterday who said that he had replaced a hose clamp and the rest of $154.00 charge was for his driving time. He would not negotiate and said that we were "wasting his time" and he'd see us in court.
What is our liability in this situation considering the following:
1. We never requested or authorized the repairs.
2. The repairs did not fix the problem.
3. We did not own the home at the time of the work and we did not have permission from the owner to do any repairs in the home.
Thanks for your help.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
My husband and I recently purchased a cottage in Massachusetts that needs quite a bit of work and was sold in "as is" condition. There was a water leak in the crawlspace which appeared to be coming from the underground well pipe. Before we purchased the home, the seller's real estate agent told us that the seller had been trying to get someone to look at the leak and give them a quote to repair it. She told us that she would keep trying so that we would have an idea of the cost to repair the pipe once we took ownership. The owner had passed away and the cottage was vacant so they had turned off the well pump to keep the basement from flooding.
A couple of weeks later she called to say that the leak had been repaired by a plumber that she found and that the cost was $154.00. She said that we were responsible for paying the bill. We were skeptical that he had so quickly repaired the pipe and concerned that we had not received a quote beforehand to approve. This was all still before the closing.
Shortly thereafter we were granted access to the house before the closing to clean and remove carpets. We inspected the repair and found the crawlspace and basement flooded and the well pump overheated. The plumber was obviously so confident in his work that he had left the pump on with no one at the house. We're still not sure of what the plumber did but he didn't fix the original leak. We unplugged the pump so that it wouldn't burn out and waited until after the closing to investigate. At which time we found the leak ourselves and repaired the problem in about 1 1/2 hours.
We did receive an invoice from the plumber but in the confusion of the closing it was overlooked. Last week the plumber called and left a beligerant message about the past due invoice (it has only been 45 days since the work was done) and threatened to sue. My husband and I discussed the situation and decided that we'd try to negotiate the price to avoid going to small claims court. My husband spoke with the plumber yesterday who said that he had replaced a hose clamp and the rest of $154.00 charge was for his driving time. He would not negotiate and said that we were "wasting his time" and he'd see us in court.
What is our liability in this situation considering the following:
1. We never requested or authorized the repairs.
2. The repairs did not fix the problem.
3. We did not own the home at the time of the work and we did not have permission from the owner to do any repairs in the home.
Thanks for your help.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
