Thread: Court Awards $282K to Buyers over sinking home

Here is a lesson learned - Get an inspection!!!

Court awards $282000 to purchasers of sinking home

A couple who bought a “sinking home” in Amherst has been awarded the purchase price by a State Supreme Court jury, which found the sellers lied about the home’s condition.



Court awards $282,000 to purchasers of sinking home : Northern Suburbs : The Buffalo News

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This article brings up a lot of questions:

1. What value was the Home Warranty that came with the home purchase? Are they a common reason buyers feel they don't need a home inspection?
2. From some of the comments to the original article, it sounds like the soil conditions in this area were commonly known to the original builders as well as the building department that should have:
   1. Required special foundations by the building department.
   2. Involved liability by the original builders and developers.
3. Realtors should have an obligation to their clients to stress the importance of the physical condition of a home (discovered during a home inspection) not just comps to other sales or even appraisals that usually don't have much technical input either.
4. It sounds like the symptoms of foundation problems in this house were not real obvious so a home inspector that might be involved should also be aware of past history of the area to avoid getting caught in the litigation also.

Interesting case with many possible future implications.

Even as a former building inspector, I require my clients to hire property, well, and septic inspectors as necessary or sign a general liability waiver (which I tell them would be foolish to do). Unfortunately, there are a lot of unscrupulous agents who just want to make a sale. There are a lot of newer houses that were put up in a hurry and not necessarily well-built, so age is no indicator of quality of construction or condition of the house.

This illustrates the importance of full disclosure. The seller could have made the repair documentation a part of the disclosure statement, but apparently didn't. That would have been the best course of action, it seems.

Full disclosure is always the best bet.

Caveat Emptor- Fancy Latin for Let the buyer beware. I would not buy a used car strictly on the sellers word, nor buy a new one without a warranty, why buy a house without an inspection?

They new of the sinking home. They obviously new (because they had it done) about the repairs. They wanted to sell and run. They should have been awarded more. Think about the disclosure now on the home. Yep, that home will sell for sure Its sounds lake a poorly placed candle about to have an affect.