Pat Butler
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- Illinois
G-man-- your situation is kind of a mixed bag of problems. On one hand, you indicate that you became aware of the bowed walls during the home inspection, before you actually bought the house. If so, then you can hardly claim that it was a situation that you were unaware of. That was the time to inspect further- before you actually bought the house.
And are you absolutely sure that the seller's 'hid' the situation from you? After all, they allowed you to bring in a home inspector which is something rather unusual for a seller to do if they wanted to hide a defect. You can't know for sure whether the walls had a problem when the panelling was replaced. Or for that matter, whether the sellers thought it was a problem, even if something appeared unusual. It apparently wasn't even of a problem if it didn't bother you for 4 years. You even indicated that you tried to sell the house in that condition. So why would your sellers have thought any different?
I certainly don't know who is at fault here, but the sellers sure seemed to have been cooperative if they allowed you to inspect the house so that you knew what you were buying. A situation like this, which changes over time, might have just become worse during the last 4 years, through no fault of the sellers- just nature. Not saying that you are wrong, but you knew that you bought a house with a basement problem and now isn't the time to blame the sellers for a problem that you willingly purchased.
And are you absolutely sure that the seller's 'hid' the situation from you? After all, they allowed you to bring in a home inspector which is something rather unusual for a seller to do if they wanted to hide a defect. You can't know for sure whether the walls had a problem when the panelling was replaced. Or for that matter, whether the sellers thought it was a problem, even if something appeared unusual. It apparently wasn't even of a problem if it didn't bother you for 4 years. You even indicated that you tried to sell the house in that condition. So why would your sellers have thought any different?
I certainly don't know who is at fault here, but the sellers sure seemed to have been cooperative if they allowed you to inspect the house so that you knew what you were buying. A situation like this, which changes over time, might have just become worse during the last 4 years, through no fault of the sellers- just nature. Not saying that you are wrong, but you knew that you bought a house with a basement problem and now isn't the time to blame the sellers for a problem that you willingly purchased.