failure to disclose

[Jori]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?PA
We bought a house in a residential/farming area because of the farmlands around it. We asked our realtor if there were any plans for expansion in the area and she said there is always that possibility with privately owned farmland. What she didn't tell us was that the farms were under contract pending zoning approval for a 175 house development and they had already passed Phase 1 of this. The agreement of sale was on the farms was over a year old when we asked. The neighbors told us they knew about the sale a long time before and were surprised the seller ( or her agent or my agent---who was contracted as an agent for the buyer ) didn't tell us. We would not have bought the property as it will definitely impact the quality of life as we know it now. Do we have any legal recourse for failure to disclose?

 

[PghREA]

The Seller certainly should have known. The Realtor may not have known - unless the Seller told him/her. Builders and developers don't confide in us until they have a product ready to market.

 

[JETX]

Do we have any legal recourse for failure to disclose?

Simple answer... no.
And even if you had recourse, it would be useless. Your own statement admits you were aware that the adjacant or nearby property "always that possibility with privately owned farmland." The only issue would be timing..... and the court wouldn't award.

 

[HomeGuru]

The Seller certainly should have known. The Realtor may not have known - unless the Seller told him/her. Builders and developers don't confide in us until they have a product ready to market.

**A: not true as numerous builder/developers get real estate agents on board as consultants early on say in the planning and design stages and several years before the completion of the project.

 

[PghREA]

**A: not true as numerous builder/developers get real estate agents on board as consultants early on say in the planning and design stages and several years before the completion of the project.

What you say is probably true. However, using a few real estate agents as consultants does not mean that EVERY real estate agent in a selling area knows what is being planned, designed or developed in the future.

 

[HomeGuru]

What you say is probably true. However, using a few real estate agents as consultants does not mean that EVERY real estate agent in a selling area knows what is being planned, designed or developed in the future.

**A: I agree with that general and broad based statement. And likewise, EVERY real estate agent does not follow their respective state licensing laws and the National Association of Realtor Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.