Posted by carlos281 on October 07, 2005 at 15:45:50:
Hey thanks for the response. As of right now there are no damages, but I’m afraid of what the damages might be in the near future. The seller was actually an investor who bought the house and did some work on it including the pool incedent. He did use a realtor, and the realtor never disclosed the fact that there is a pool in the backyard. Are there any laws against not disclosing something like that. The inspector that I used told me that everything looked ok except for some minor things, but the pool was never brought up. What do you think the chances are of me getting the previous owner/investor to pay for it to get done correctly, and what do you think the first thing I should do is? Do you think this could be a fraud claim? Thanks for the follow up.
I like your sign in name also, wish I could have come up with something like that.
Real Estate disclosure laws in TX. - Posted by Carlos281
Posted by Carlos281 on October 06, 2005 at 21:56:56:
Please help! My wife and I recently bought our first home. We heard from a neighbor that the home had a deck and pool before, but the seller decided to take it out. He hired cheap labor and the work was never finished. They left holes in the pool concrete. The seller decided to leave it this way and just cover it up. He threw in the decking material, maybe even a stove and filled it with dirt and grass over it. The dirt began to settle, so he patched it sand. I don’t know how true all this is, this was the first time meeting this neighbor, but I do see the sand patch. What should we do? Should we dig in first to verify? Should we photograph the site first? We are afraid of what can happen ei: more settling, flooding due to retaining water, mosquitos. This was never disclosed to us, the listing even said “big enough for a pool”. I read that the law now is “seller beware”, not “buyer beware”. Please let us know how to proceed. Your help will be greatly appreciated. This is our first legal issue.
Re: Real Estate disclosure laws in TX. - Posted by dealmaker
Posted by dealmaker on October 06, 2005 at 22:31:00:
The law may be “seller beware” in some states, but not in TX, land of the weakest consumer protection laws in the country. The big problem you have is ANY JUDGEMENT YOU GET, assuming you could get one, is going to be worthless. Personal judgements in TX are as good as uncollectible, nothing to attach.
However, I do know of ONE CASE in CA, where a court did find that even though the SELLER FAILED TO DISCLOSE a substantial erosion, landslide sitution, that the AGENT/BROKER was liable, because of their (supposed) superior knowledge/expertise in RE, the should have realized what had happened.
At this point, what are your damages? To hire some guys to dig it up, and refill it properly is probably a couple of grand. Was the house listed with a Realtor? Did you have an inspection? These parties may be a better source of relief than a FORMER OWNER, who is nowhere to be found and served.