Seller of the condo did not disclose previous water damage.What are my options and rights?
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Seller of the condo did not disclose previous water damage.What are my options and rights?
I bought a condo on June 2017 in San Ramon, CA. Nothing was disclosed about the
previous water damage happened in October 2016 from a leak in the laundry room in
the condo upstairs. I have the disclosures from the unit above me that has
mentioned the insurance claim on October 2016.
Before I buy the condo an inspection was done and nothing was found. They already
repaired the damages but did not disclose it.
Can I sue them in the small claims court? If I get a lawyer will the attorney fee
recoverable if I win the case? what is the timeframe that I can file a lawsuit? I
want to know what are my rights and options. I can provide more details on how I
discovered about the previous damage if needed.Thank you so much.
Asked on October 26, 2019 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 4 years ago | Contributor
Is there current damage? If there is, and it was not disclosed (and also not obvious when you and/or your inspector viewed the unit), you could sue for the cost to repair based on the nondisclosure. Or if there is a persistent or recurrent leak that was not disclosed, you could sue for the cost to correct. But if this was a one-time event and was fully fixed, there was no legal need to disclose it, because it is a current condition in the home: only current issue or conditions have to be disclosed. And if there is no remaining damage, there's nothing to sue for anyway, since you can only recover compensation for the cost to make repairs.
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