Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My girlfriend and I purchased our house in April of this year, the seller DID NOT disclose any water damage, also, being that we went through PFHA, they required a general inspection and a separate inspection of the roof, they said everything was fine and passed it. Today I had a GC on the roof because we noticed water damage in 2 rooms, the roof is destroyed, pieces falling off, the wood under it was soft, and it would cost thousands to fix along with all the interal water damage and mold (thats visible in one of the closets)
We just noticed that one of the rooms had patch work done right under the worse part of the roof, its starting to bleed through now, I'm assuming it was patched and painted to cover up the water damage.
My question is, who is responsible? the roofer that passed the roof for inspection? the seller? the realestate agent that got the roofer to inspect it? all of the above?
We've only lived here for less than 7 months, and the GC that just looked at the roof said "its been a long standing issue from the way it looks"
How did the idea of disclosures get started in the first place?
For millenia... the principle of "caveat emptor" worked just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by skunk
My question is, who is responsible? the roofer that passed the roof for inspection? the seller?
the realestate agent that got the roofer to inspect it? all of the above?
YOU are responsible skunk.
At *best*... you might be able to "lay off" some of that risk (and expense) on the others.
Well it depends on what your disclosure statements say. Ours say "has the roof ever leaked?" and "If so was it repaired." If your disclosure forms say "Does the roof leak?" That is much harder because you'd have to prove that they knew it leaked. They may think they repaired the link...who knows. So the question isn't what you think you know. The question is what can you PROVE. The burden of proof is on you.
first, its not just a leak, a 14'x6' section of roof is missing, mind you, I have a 'flat pitched' hot tar roof that was supposidly inspected prior to sale and said to be "good". We've had pieces of the roof falling off over the past few months but wasnt sure what it was till now.
As for the disclosure, it states "are you aware of any water damage to the structure?" he answered "no", I can pull the previous renters in that lived here before me to state otherwise. I called PFHA and they are not happy, as they were the ones who ordered the roof inspection.
Based on your story, the owner may have some responsibility along with the roof inspector. The real estate agent would only be responsible if the seller had told him about the problem OR if he recommended a roof inspector he knew to be incompetent.
> the principle of "caveat emptor"
In this case the emptor WAS caeveating. We hire an inspector to find things that we may not see ourselves, because we are not expert. We review the disclosures instead of just signing the disclaimer because we want to know about issues.
Hiding a problem just before sale is fraudulent and it is right that a buyer would have recourse.
As you have gathered facts, you should ramp this up slowly, asking for a reasonable settlement first, getting lawyers involved only if needed.
I have a similare issue. Lots of hoding and lying went on with our house. I'd say the seller and inspector may be liable. That caveat emptor crap may have flown 10-20 years ago. But now we have more lawyers than firms, more regs and statutes. Even "As Is" sales have applicable rules.
Question. What did the roof "inspection" consist of? What was your expectation and what was stated the inspection consisted of? Was it a drive by , a walk around? Seriously, less service than expected is not uncommon when people are very very busy or weather is very very bad.
And ask neighbors if they saw anyone up there on a ladder giving it a good look, or only someone walking around with binoculars.
Neighbors can provide good anecdotal info that you can take off on. Any roofing problems? Oh, when I was in there... or Oh, they were talking about leaving before the roof got too bad...or They had a roofing business truck over there for a while one morning...or Yeah, my son is a roofer and gave them an estimate.
Then ask if they remember company names. Then contact the company and see what they can provide.
"Fixed" and "no issues" means different things to different people. If someone had a drafty door for 25 years but always used a draft stopper they wouldnt see it as a problem, where you might say, that door needs to be replaced. If someone had a leaky roof and repaired it by slapping some roofing tar on it, they might consider it fixed, where as you might say it needs a new roof. Different people see issues and fixes differently.
Lawyers dont fix roofs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
