Did the seller need to disclose that a future assessment was in the works?
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Did the seller need to disclose that a future assessment was in the works?
I bought a condo about 1 1/2 years ago. Then, 2 months ago, I was assessed 25K for riser
replacements. I investigated the minutes of the association and over 2 years ago the board was getting engineers investigating replacements of windows and risers pipes for our building. Later the windows investigation was placed on hold but the risers became an emergency issue. The schematics and bidding process took place after the purchase. I took several months to finalize the
contractor. The window project began investigation again for future replacement. All in all the board is taking a loan in the amount of 8.7 million dollars for windows and risers. The risers were 3.2 million which cost me 25k due now. The windows will be forthcoming in the next year. Did the seller need to disclose that these projects were in the works even though the assessments are after the
sale of the condo?
Asked on March 30, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, he did not need to disclose them, since as you write, the assessement had not been made yet: it was, at the time of the sale, speculative, with no knowledge of exactly when (if at all; the projects could have been indefinitely delayed or fallen through) and how much an assessment would have been made. A seller is not required to disclose things of which he has no affirmative knowledge and which are possible but not certain. The disclosure requirements only require disclosure of what is known to the seller.
Further, the assessment was not under his control and affects the whole building, not merely the interior of his unit, which is what, as a condo owner, he owned: a seller needs only disclose conditions which are in the property which he personally controls, and does not need to disclose larger "community" issues which affect multiple properties and which he does not contorl or affect.
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