Print Story Did I mention that we got the house?
Diary
By Phil the Canuck (Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 07:45:02 PM EST) (all tags)
Right, I did.  Did I mention that the electrical work wasn't done?


See, here's what gets me wishing I had Blixco's gun obsession.  When our agent called their agent to tell him, rather than bothering to act surprised he went immediately to the defensive.  All this garbage about how they installed a new breaker box which was above and beyond what we requested (the old one was just fine).  How they installed brand-new hard-wired smoke/CO alarms throughout the house, which was above and beyond what we had requested (the old ones were fine, and they installed the new ones (not ALR rated, FWIW) incorrectly).

Terrific, I tell my agent.  Imagine that you are buying a house and the inspector tells you the roof is in imminent danger of collapse, and will kill you and your family.  You move in and the sellers have installed beautiful Tuscan stone throughout the house, at two times the cost of a new roof.  But the roof is not done, and you notice that it's already collapsed (our new electrician found evidence of arcing inside an outlet box) in one corner.  What do you do?

He asked to speak with me.  I told our agent that I felt I should not, as he is likely to be named in our forthcoming lawsuit.  It was made clear to me, after all, that it was his electrician.  Cast a broad net.

So we have hired someone who will do the work and present us with an itemized bill.  The rest will be up to the courts, unless the sellers wish to give in before we get there.  Either way, we won't be waiting around for their answer again this time.

The floor is in, because I rule.  It looks about a thousand times better and the moldings aren't even on yet.

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Did I mention that we got the house? | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
gee, doesn't that sound familiar. by LilFlightTest (2.00 / 0) #1 Tue Mar 25, 2008 at 11:06:49 PM EST
we'd be doing something very similar, but our problem wasn't found in inspection. nor was it disclosed, though i think it's considered a major defect (which legally has to be disclosed) and there's no way the seller could NOT have known about it...unfortunately by the time we realized the full extent of the problem, we were too far into it to prove he knew.

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if de-virgination results in me being able to birth hammerhead sharks, SIGN ME UP!!! --misslake


Talk to a lawyer anyway by notafurry (2.00 / 0) #2 Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 01:24:00 AM EST
I think - based on my extensive experience as not a lawyer, of course - that if you can show the defect is something he reasonably would have known about and it was not disclosed, you can still sue for damages.

You mileage may vary, the lawyer may say you don't have a shot or it will cost more than you're likely to recover or whatever, but it's worth exploring.

[ Parent ]

It's tricky by Phil the Canuck (2.00 / 0) #4 Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 09:04:52 AM EST
If you can prove they knew, they are liable.  It's proving that they knew where you run into problems.

[ Parent ]

as phil says by LilFlightTest (2.00 / 0) #5 Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 06:13:22 PM EST
it's the proving he knew that's hard. if we'd have known immediately the full extent of the problem, we could probably prove he knew. unfortunately, by the time we realized it, we'd taken things apart, and can no longer prove. WE know what we did, but all a court could see is the state it's in now.
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if de-virgination results in me being able to birth hammerhead sharks, SIGN ME UP!!! --misslake
[ Parent ]

All who have replied are smoking crack except me. by chuckles (4.00 / 1) #3 Wed Mar 26, 2008 at 03:41:20 AM EST
Any man worth a damn could fix these minor defects himself. You need to concentrate on building a concealable, defensible safe room, instead.

Sent from my iPhone.




As Fry said by duxup (2.00 / 0) #6 Fri Mar 28, 2008 at 01:59:39 PM EST
I'm shocked, shocked!  Well not that shocked.

Anyway that's probably the right way to do it now.  No need to debate it with them.  Here's the bill, got a problem, talk to the lawyer.
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Did I mention that we got the house? | 6 comments (6 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback