T
Tstone66
Guest
I live in Virginia and recently purchased my first house. I had my own home inspection done before closing and the seller did a disclaimer form. He did not disclose anything about water damage. 3 weeks after moving into the home we found extensive water damage in the 3rd floor bathroom. I contacted the seller and of course he had no knowledge of the damage prior to the sale. The repairs cost me $3,500.
I desided to take the seller to court to see what damages I could recover. I had 3 witnesses appear on my behalf, my realtor, the contractor who completed the work and a past renter who lived in the home for 9 years. After a 4 hour court battle I was declared the winner but I was only awarded $1,900 due to the fact that I would benefit from the resale of the home. The judge felt that the seller intensionally covered up the water damage to sell the home by putting new paint on the walls and new lyno on the floor. The past renter also stated that on several occassions she had mentioned the water damage to the seller and he just ignored it.
I was feeling good about winner this civil case on my own without an attoney but now the seller is appealing the case. He's only defense was that we signed a disclaimer form releiving him of any obligations after the sale. Well during my first trial I proved that the disclaimer form was null and void by all of his cover-up's.
My question to the group would be, can a disclaimer form legally be null and void if the seller is found to have covered up damage? If so, have there been any court cases where this has actually happend? I would like to research this matter further to be more prepared for my 2nd trial. Thank you!
I desided to take the seller to court to see what damages I could recover. I had 3 witnesses appear on my behalf, my realtor, the contractor who completed the work and a past renter who lived in the home for 9 years. After a 4 hour court battle I was declared the winner but I was only awarded $1,900 due to the fact that I would benefit from the resale of the home. The judge felt that the seller intensionally covered up the water damage to sell the home by putting new paint on the walls and new lyno on the floor. The past renter also stated that on several occassions she had mentioned the water damage to the seller and he just ignored it.
I was feeling good about winner this civil case on my own without an attoney but now the seller is appealing the case. He's only defense was that we signed a disclaimer form releiving him of any obligations after the sale. Well during my first trial I proved that the disclaimer form was null and void by all of his cover-up's.
My question to the group would be, can a disclaimer form legally be null and void if the seller is found to have covered up damage? If so, have there been any court cases where this has actually happend? I would like to research this matter further to be more prepared for my 2nd trial. Thank you!