Do buyers have recourse against seller, listing agent?
November 21, 2008 09:50 AM
By Ilyce Glink
Inman News
Q: We purchased our house from an old lady who told us she was selling because she wants to live in a retirement community. However, she lied to us. She apparently got tired of having extremely noisy neighbors from both sides of her house, and wanted to have more peace and quiet.
Now we're living in a house with heavy smoking and drinking neighbors on one side, and late-night party lovers on the other side. We are already tired, and called police twice. I feel like the seller intentionally misinformed us in order to sell this house. Even her previous neighboring friend told us this was her plan all along.
What can we do? And how do we get unstuck from this house?
A: It's unfortunate that your seller was not upfront with you on these problems. You should go back to the seller disclosure form to see if anything she marked down was factually incorrect.
You may also want to have a conversation with the agent who represented the home. It's likely that the agent knew about the sellers and if so, may have had a legal obligation to pass that information along to you.
Then, please talk to a real estate attorney to see what, if any, legal options you have.
While most seller disclosure laws relate to real estate matters affecting the home that is being sold, it's possible that seller disclosure laws in your state now encompass broader issues involving the ownership of a home.
State seller disclosure laws generally require a seller to tell a buyer about problems that affect the property being sold: a leaky roof; problems with the plumbing; a settling foundation; termite problems; leaky windows; and other real estate issues. Your case may have to do with noise issues. If the property does not have proper sound insulation or was built improperly, that could be something that the seller should have disclosed to you.
Unfortunately, in some cases, issues that involve other properties or owners may not fall within the original intent of seller disclosure laws. If the home you are buying is near an airport or freight-train tracks, the seller may not have to disclose to you that the noise may affect the home. Likewise, if the home is adjacent to a commercial or industrial park and there is noise from those areas, the neighbor may not have a duty to disclose that noise problem to you.
In your particular case, the noise issue is from within the building, from noisy neighbors. Some might say that each person is taking a risk living next to rude and noisy neighbors. In that case, municipal laws and local ordinances would apply to your problem, and you would have to contact your local government officials to see if they can help you out.
Q: We rent a home that just went into foreclosure through no fault of our own. The home is being auctioned off in five days and we just got notice yesterday. We have two children (an infant and one who is a diabetic).
Do we have to be out of the house by the auction date or does the new owner have to evict us? How long do we have to get all of our stuff out of the home?
A: Usually the foreclosure proceedings notify all parties involved of the action, and when the property is auctioned off, the new owner will want possession of the house. Depending on the laws in the state in which you live, the new owner may have the right to possession of the house upon closing of the auction and may have the right to demand that you move immediately.
You might want to talk to the clerk of the court handling the foreclosure process or the sheriff's department in your area to obtain more information. If you're lucky, you might get 30 days from the date of the auction to get out of the house.
If you remain in the home, you may want to contact the person that purchases the home at the auction to determine if he or she would like to keep you as tenants in the home. If you are unable to contact the new owner or are having difficulty getting information to determine the timing that you might need to meet, you should find alternate housing and be prepared to move.
While some lenders are paying renters of foreclosed properties or the prior owners of those properties to leave quietly and with the property in good shape, with the auction around the corner, it may be too late to see if the lender would want to pay you to move.
If you find that the laws in the state in which you live give you some time after the auction to move out, then that time should be available to you. However, you would be wise to have a backup plan ready in case the new owner wants you out.
To get even more valuable advice from Ilyce, visit her Personal Finance and Real Estate Center.
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Copyright 2008 Ilyce R. Glink
