The sellers disclosure
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The sellers disclosure
Sellers did not disclose any problems with roof. Inspector did not find any but inspection was done in winter time with snow on roof. Now there are signs of water damage in ceiling. House bought 6 months ago.
Asked on June 8, 2009 under Real Estate Law, New York
Answers:
J.V., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
A sellers is required to disclose everything that they know about hence the purpose of the disclosure form. However it is also the buyers responsibility to have an inspection and the buyer purchases the home knowing there may be problems uncovered.
It becomes an issue as to whether the sellers knew of the problems and simply failed to disclose. You should contact your attorney and ask them about maybe making a few calls to the sellers attorney and/or broker. Than you can see if there was any blatant lies in the disclosure, if there were records of water damage while the owned the home etc. This type of information will help you pursue a possible settlement amount. However the key is they had to knowingly fail to disclose or lie about information and it is hard to prove this element.
Start with your attorney who handled the closing and go from there. And always feel free to come back with another specific question. Good luck
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