Posted by Jimmy on January 26, 2008 at 05:48:15:
the seller would have an obligation to disclose the issue of he knew about it AND if it is a material piece of information. you did not mention what the problem is. maybe you could share the details. by the way, it may seem like a material omission to you, but may not be a material omission. see below
the seller’s broker owes you no duties.
the title company would not be in a position know about the problem, unless there was a survey that pointed it out. and if there was a survey, and the encroachment (or whatever the problem) was disclosed, the title company still might not tell you (or have a duty to tell you) unless it was a material issue.
example: bank ordered up a survey in an acquisition I did a few years back. survey found that my fence encroached onto neighbor’s yard. no one told me until the deal was closed. my bank knew about it, but did not care. not material to them. and that’s that.
never mind that it cost me $300 to remove and relocate a section of fence. I certainly thought it was material. but it wasn’t a concern to the lender who order the survey, and it did not represent a cloud on title. had the house encroached, it would have been a very different story.