What is my legal recourse if the seller filled out
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What is my legal recourse if the seller filled out
The owner we bought the house from bought it on foreclosure and fixed it up. He filled out N/A all the way down the seller’s disclosure form. We had an inspection done and found a myriad of issues issues that the seller must have known about because he attempted to fix some of the issues very shoddily (i.e. roof leaks, foundation not up to code, etc). Of the issues we found the seller offered to take off $10,000 from the price so that we could fix the issues. Since moving in, we have found even more issues, one being that the plumbing in the kitchen was not set up. Every time we turned on our sink the water went straight into the crawl space, ruining the $2000 vapor barrier we had just installed. Cost me $500 to fix plumbing issue in kitchen. The plumbing issue was missed on the inspection. What is my legal recourse here? I understand that he took money off for the issues found but it seems very unethical to me that he wrote N/A all
the way down the seller’s disclosure.
Thank you
Asked on March 23, 2017 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Fraud is the knowing or intentional misrepresentation (i.e. a deliberate lie) of material (or important) facts made to induce (or cause) you to do something (like buy a house), and upon which you reasonably relied (no obvious reasons to not trust the information). Writing "N/A" about isssues which, based on the facts and circumstances, the seller must have known about but which would not be readily discrenable by a buyer or his/her inspector, can therefore be fraud, and fraud would provide a basis to recover compensation, such as the cost to make repairs. Based on what you write, you may have a fraud case against the seller; if the amount is less than the limit for you small claims court, you may wish to sue in small claims, as your own attorney ("pro se") to save on legal fees; if more than that, consult with an attorney.
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