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Statute of Limitations and Rule of Discovery

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VRHomeOwner

Junior Member
Texas resident, here. I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

My wife and I bought our home in October of 2008. At the time, we were told that foundation work had been done to the home and was under warranty. The work done was under the front of the house, and we understood that only that part was covered on the warranty (which transferred to us). We were satisfied with this information which lead us to believe sufficient work had been done and decided purchasing the home would be a reasonably safe purchase. Over the past few months, we noticed cracks appearing towards the front of the house, and contacted the company that had done the previous work.

When they came to the house to inspect the foundation, they provided a history of what had been done to the house, as well as what had been recommended for the house when the original work was done. What we found to be problematic, is that quite a bit more work had been recommended to secure the foundation. I feel this information should have been disclosed when we were buying the home, since I wouldn't have purchased for the amount we paid. Now we are looking at about $14k�17k in repairs to the foundation (as well as costs for repairing our flooring once the work is done).

What I would like to know is if we have legal grounds to sue for covering the costs of fixing the foundation. And if taking this option is even worth the cost of pursuing legal action. In Texas, I know that the statute of limitations is 4 years. But Texas also has a "Rule of Discovery" which leaves it up to the court to decide if we have additional time to file a suit. The work was done about 10 years ago. We bought the house a little over 5 years ago. We found out this information just yesterday. Do I have anything to stand on here?
 


Proserpina

Senior Member
Texas resident, here. I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

My wife and I bought our home in October of 2008. At the time, we were told that foundation work had been done to the home and was under warranty. The work done was under the front of the house, and we understood that only that part was covered on the warranty (which transferred to us). We were satisfied with this information which lead us to believe sufficient work had been done and decided purchasing the home would be a reasonably safe purchase. Over the past few months, we noticed cracks appearing towards the front of the house, and contacted the company that had done the previous work.

When they came to the house to inspect the foundation, they provided a history of what had been done to the house, as well as what had been recommended for the house when the original work was done. What we found to be problematic, is that quite a bit more work had been recommended to secure the foundation. I feel this information should have been disclosed when we were buying the home, since I wouldn't have purchased for the amount we paid. Now we are looking at about $14k�17k in repairs to the foundation (as well as costs for repairing our flooring once the work is done).

What I would like to know is if we have legal grounds to sue for covering the costs of fixing the foundation. And if taking this option is even worth the cost of pursuing legal action. In Texas, I know that the statute of limitations is 4 years. But Texas also has a "Rule of Discovery" which leaves it up to the court to decide if we have additional time to file a suit. The work was done about 10 years ago. We bought the house a little over 5 years ago. We found out this information just yesterday. Do I have anything to stand on here?
Start by reading this: http://www.expertlaw.com/library/limitations_by_state/Texas.html#6

Then get thee to an attorney. I'm not convinced there's a case to be made, but stand by for the experts.
 

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