<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by freffie~wet:
State of Pennsylvania. My prior house was sold in August of 1999. The house has a finished basement of which parts are below grade. My wife and I just received a letter from the real estate agent stating that the new owner of the house would like us to provide voluntary financial assistance to help cover the cost of $1,500 in repair costs and $1,300 to waterproof the basement. She claims that she has had serious flooding three times which caused her to remove her carpet, and the tile below it. She also claims that she replaced the baseboard mouldings, and they are damaged again. At the time of the sale, we included in the disclosure statement that "dampness may occur in prolonged & heavy storms." We also stated that we "sealed the brickwork where the chimney meets the house", because the dampness occurred on the carpet near the chimney. The new owner was aware that water was getting into the basement. She also hired an FHA certified inspector to assess the overall condition of the house, after the disclosure statement was already in her posession. The inspector did not note any signs of water damage anywhere in the house. In the 8 years I lived in that house, I never experienced serious flooding. The dampness dried out after a day or two, and I never felt the need to replace carpets. The new owner is threatening legal recourse, if I don't agree to pay for part of the damages. Do I have any obligation in this matter?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You are not liable based on your disclosure statement. Read the letter carefully, it asks for voluntary financial assistance. It so happens that you choose not to volunteer.
Have your real estate agent write a letter back to the other agent specifically stating that you as Sellers diligently and accurately disclosed the conditions of the basement which the Buyer fully acknowledged and accepted. Add in the verbiage on the disclosure statement for each item pertaining to the basement and state once again that the condition of dampness was disclosed. At no time did you represent to the Buyer that the basement did not leak. The Buyer had ample time and opportunity to hire a third party inspector and this was accomplished. The Buyer could have cancelled the transaction based on the information on the disclosure statement and/or the results of their FHA inspection but were satisfied and chose to buy the home instead.
Note: there may be a question of terms used and the definition and understanding of them by the Buyer and you as Sellers. The word dampness vs. serious flooding. If there were flooding or water penetrating/infiltrating into the basement areas, I would not consider this to be described as dampness. Dampness would be removed by a rag and not a mop. If you have ever had to ring out a completely soaked rag or mop due to the basement conditions, then the conditions were greater than that of dampness.
