Any Lawyers out there? Legal Question.. Re: Homeowners Claim

[LynnTH]

I will try to make this as short as possible. We moved into a new house on August 21st. We agreed to buy the house the beginning of July. July 24th a major storm happened where our new house is and there was hail damage. We have had a bunch of houses in our cul de sac get new roofs within the past month because of this storm. We have had neighbors come by and tell us we should have our roof checked for damage also.

So, we had an adjuster come out and he said there is roof damage. So, we call our insurance company and we are told that the claim has to go through the previous owners insurance company. So, we call the previous owners and they are not being nice about this and refuse to do anything. They are saying they are not at fault and they are not liable. We are not saying they are at fault but we cannot process the claim. They said they called their insurance company and was told that they will not do anything and won't talk to us either. (not sure if they actually called or just saying that). Of course, they won't tell us who their insurance company is.

Not sure what our course of action is now. We can't file with our company - we don't know who their company is and they are being mean and nasty. Is this something that we need to get a lawyer involved in and are we really in the right here.

Any info would be great before we go further on this. Thanks.

 

[AboutTheMouse]

Follow up questions:

What date was closing? (Not the move in date)
Did you have an inspection after the storm but prior to closing?
Did you do a walk through prior to closing? If so, did you sign anything that said that all was "A OK"?

 

[klj27]

I would think that you would have needed to take care of this before you closed on the house. Once you bought the house you were accepting it in its current condition. I really don't think the previous owners are obligated to do anything for you at this point and if I were them I wouldn't want a homeowners claim on a house I don't even own anymore.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Not sure what the legality is since you took possession of the home before checking for roof damage, but I would contact your agent. We are currently under contract to buy a home and if anything happens between now and closing, the sellers need to remedy the situation per our contract. Your agent might be able to steer you in the right direction.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not sure the recourse.

I would likely have a real estate attorney give a through look at all of your paperwork.

I would also be curious if the homeowners were living in the home at the time of the storm or why they otherwise would have failed to disclose this act of nature that they could have easily remedied when they were the homeowners.

IOW--I would want to know if they deliberately hid this fact from you--in which case you MIGHT have a claim against them.

There is no need for them to not be nasty with you over it and to me that is a sign that they have been deceptive.

Legally, I do not know what that means--but that is what the attorney is for.

 

[LynnTH]

We closed on the house on 8/21. We did not have an inspection done but if we had it wouldn't have mattered anyway as it would have been before the storm took place.

We didn't know til after we were in the house that there was that much damage in the neighborhood, so no reason to check the roof. And that isn't something you usually check at walk through time. I don't think anyone climbs on the room at walk through. We only knew how bad the storm was once we move in and the new neighbors were getting new roofs and telling us we should have ours looked at.

Our insurance agent has said that they are responsible since they still owned the house when the storm happened. But, when we contacted them they are refusing to cooperate and said they won't do anything.

 

[wdwfan16]

The previous owner was obligated to disclose this to the buyer. Did you have a home inspection? Was it before the storm?

I would need to consult a lawyer.

 

[horseshowmom]

We closed on the house on 8/21. We did not have an inspection done but if we had it wouldn't have mattered anyway as it would have been before the storm took place.

We didn't know til after we were in the house that there was that much damage in the neighborhood, so no reason to check the roof. And that isn't something you usually check at walk through time. I don't think anyone climbs on the room at walk through. We only knew how bad the storm was once we move in and the new neighbors were getting new roofs and telling us we should have ours looked at.

Our insurance agent has said that they are responsible since they still owned the house when the storm happened. But, when we contacted them they are refusing to cooperate and said they won't do anything.

If your insurance agent is correct, sounds like you do need a lawyer.

 

[DVC-Don]

Your only recourse is against the prior homeowner, but without an inspection your "ice is thin". They could have coverage with the insurance company that had a policy on that house prior to the closing, but that company has no relation with you. I'd consult your closing attorney and probably file suit against the prior owner who would then be forced to contact their insurance company.

 

[LynnTH]

Not sure the recourse.

I would likely have a real estate attorney give a through look at all of your paperwork.

I would also be curious if the homeowners were living in the home at the time of the storm or why they otherwise would have failed to disclose this act of nature that they could have easily remedied when they were the homeowners.

IOW--I would want to know if they deliberately hid this fact from you--in which case you MIGHT have a claim against them.

There is no need for them to not be nasty with you over it and to me that is a sign that they have been deceptive.


We do know for a fact that they were living there during that time. They moved into temporary housing a week before we closed on the house as they are building a new house.

The lady told my DH that she did not know of any storm. Not sure how you can miss golfball to baseball size hail and all your neighbors are getting new roofs??

The guys is pretty nice but won't make any decisions on his own so then his wife calls and is just nasty.

And because it is an "Act of God" the claim will do nothing agains their policy. We were planning on paying the deductible also - but they won't even look into having an adjuster come out. So, our hands our tied.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would review your contracts--there typically will be clauses for non-disclosure.

How the heck do you not notice a hail storm especially when all the neighbors know about it.

It would be one thing if they weren't home on that date--but then they would have told you that.

They are lying IMHO.

 

[allison443]

Hopefully you had an attorney do your closing and they can help you with this...what do your contract and closing documents say? You may be precluded from going after the sellers for something that occurred prior to closing. You have to see what the specific language provides in your contract/closing documents. Also, did you have a walk-through? If you had the opportunity to check the roof but didn't, you might be deemed to have waived your right to complain later.

However in some states (NY is one) there is a disclosure form that has to be filled out...did your sellers have to fill anything out like that?

I know in some areas it is normal not to have a home inspection, but I cannot imagine buying a house without an expert inspection. Every time we've bought houses, the inspection gave us very important information. Also, it is used to negotiate price.

 

[LynnTH]

Hopefully you had an attorney do your closing and they can help you with this...what do your contract and closing documents say? You may be precluded from going after the sellers for something that occurred prior to closing. You have to see what the specific language provides in your contract/closing documents. Also, did you have a walk-through? If you had the opportunity to check the roof but didn't, you might be deemed to have waived your right to complain later.

However in some states (NY is one) there is a disclosure form that has to be filled out...did your sellers have to fill anything out like that?

I know in some areas it is normal not to have a home inspection, but I cannot imagine buying a house without an expert inspection. Every time we've bought houses, the inspection gave us very important information. Also, it is used to negotiate price.

We didn't have an inspection as the home is only 10 year old and was kept up very well. They had all new Heating/AC installed. My brother was our realtor and did not think it was necessary as any minor thing we found my DH would be able to fix. My brother, DH and my Dad went through the house very well before we put in an offer. Even if we had had a professional inspeciton - it would have been done the 2nd week of July. The storm did not hit until July 24th.

We did have a walk through. But I guess I have never known anyone to go on the roof during a walk through.

It is just one of these unfortunate things. I wish we could just file with our insurance company - but can't blame them either, as we didn't own the house then.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We didn't have an inspection as the home is only 10 year old and was kept up very well. They had all new Heating/AC installed. My brother was our realtor and did not think it was necessary as any minor thing we found my DH would be able to fix. My brother, DH and my Dad went through the house very well before we put in an offer. Even if we had had a professional inspeciton - it would have been done the 2nd week of July. The storm did not hit until July 24th.

We did have a walk through. But I guess I have never known anyone to go on the roof during a walk through.

It is just one of these unfortunate things. I wish we could just file with our insurance company - but can't blame them either, as we didn't own the house then.

Your brother gave your poor advice. All homes should be inspected. Even brand new ones under warranty. Hopefully he would change his advice for future clients.

However, I don't think the former owners are out of the woods simply due to your lack of inspection.

Did they complete a disclosure agreement?

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I dont know what the law is in your state, but where I live, I only had a certian amoutn of days after I signed the purchase and sales to get the home inspected and then it was pretty much a done deal until the closing.
I think that it is crazy to not have an inspection done no matter how old the house is. You have no idea what could have been going on in the house. My home was only 8 years old when we sold it and unbeknown to us, we had a small opening in our roof. Not a big deal, but something only a trained eye could see. It was not costly, but it saved potential damage in the future to the new home owner's. You should check the writing carefully. My purchase and sales said "as is" and it was up to the buyers to explore what they are getting themselves into. Maybe the old homeowner's were not aware of the damage if you weren't espcially if they were not living there. When did they move out? I also think that where you did the walk through, you would be responsible. Why wouldn't you check the attic? Who knows what could be living up there. In my new home, we found a hornets nest.

 

[LynnTH]

Your brother gave your poor advice. All homes should be inspected. Even brand new ones under warranty. Hopefully he would change his advice for future clients.

However, I don't think the former owners are out of the woods simply due to your lack of inspection.

Did they complete a disclosure agreement?

Well, he has been in the business a long time and is also a contractor and builds houses. So, he knows what to look for. If he thought it was necessary he would have had me have one. The people who bought our house had one done and honestly the stuff we had to fix was so minor and stupid. But, our house was also 40 years old.

Even if the home was inspected - it would have been done before the storm hit.

I'm will have to look through the paperwork to see if there as a disclosure agreement (I'm sure there was but not sure if that is filled out at the time we agreed to purchase or at closing...)

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Disclosure statements and home inspections aside...those things would have been done well before storm so they are moot points.

As I said, check you contract. My current contract specifically states that in the event that something happens to the home between the time of contract and closing (ie: a hurricane or other storm) the seller has to remedy the situation. The fact of the matter is that their insurance company covered the property until the moment you closed.

 

[LynnTH]

I dont know what the law is in your state, but where I live, I only had a certian amoutn of days after I signed the purchase and sales to get the home inspected and then it was pretty much a done deal until the closing.
I think that it is crazy to not have an inspection done no matter how old the house is. You have no idea what could have been going on in the house. My home was only 8 years old when we sold it and unbeknown to us, we had a small opening in our roof. Not a big deal, but something only a trained eye could see. It was not costly, but it saved potential damage in the future to the new home owner's. You should check the writing carefully. My purchase and sales said "as is" and it was up to the buyers to explore what they are getting themselves into. Maybe the old homeowner's were not aware of the damage if you weren't espcially if they were not living there. When did they move out? I also think that where you did the walk through, you would be responsible. Why wouldn't you check the attic? Who knows what could be living up there. In my new home, we found a hornets nest.

They were living there. They did not move out until a week before closing. We also have friends in the neighborhood (3 Families we know) and everyone always said how meticulous they were about everything. And you could tell that by looking at the inside of the house and out. It was the cleanest house I had ever been in. My brother and DH (who is very handy) looked over the house very well and went over all the major things. Tthere was no need to pay for an inspection. If anything small came up we would just take care of it. But like we stated before any inspection would have been done before the storm anyway - so, it would not have mattered in this case.

 

[clutter]

Disclosure statements and home inspections aside...those things would have been done well before storm so they are moot points.

As I said, check you contract. My current contract specifically states that in the event that something happens to the home between the time of contract and closing (ie: a hurricane or other storm) the seller has to remedy the situation. The fact of the matter is that their insurance company covered the property until the moment you closed.

Then the question is whether closing on the property negated the obligation of the seller to remedy.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Then the question is whether closing on the property negated the obligation of the seller to remedy.

Exactly! However, I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.
My gut would say that the property was covered by the seller's insurance at the time of the damage and they would be the ones to pay.