How does selling your home ‘AS IS’ affect the discloser page?
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How does selling your home ‘AS IS’ affect the discloser page?
We sold my mothers house last year. Since I have not lived in the home for 35 years we sold the house AS IS. On the discloser statement page, I checked that I was unaware of a water problem leaking into the basement. My parents did have water a couple of times, and hired a plumber to install a sump pump and longer downspouts to keep water out of the basement. Last fall when we had a lot of rain the buyer got water in basement. He is taking us to small claims court demanding 9500 for drain tile to be installed plus court costs and attorney fees.
Asked on May 26, 2016 under Real Estate Law, Illinois
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You still have to disclose any problems of which you are aware, which problems may not be immediately obvious on an inspection: such as, for example, a water infiltration issue, which would only be obvious typically if it had just rained heavily before the buyer looked at it. If you were aware that your parents did have water in the basement, as you apparently were, you should have disclosed that fact: that to your knowledge, there had occasionally been water in the basement but that steps were taken (the pump; the downspouts) to mitigate it. Had you done that, you would not be liable. However, since you evidently knew of the problem but still failed to disclose it, you could possibly be held liable for the costs to correct the situation.
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