Expert: liznarr - 6/6/2009

Question
My fiance purchased a home 3 yrs ago.  I helped him remodel 4 rooms inside.  We had a new roof and gutters put on about 1 1/2 months ago.  The workers whom did this indicated are back wall of the house was bowing.  Then, we got some carpenter ants.  We took off some siding from the house and newer plywood had been put up.  We removed that plywood and found rotted wood and joist rotted.  There was no disclosure of this at the time of sale.  What can we do now?

Answer
Hi Beth,

I am assuming that your fiancée received “some” kind of disclosure on his house, but just nothing on what you have described.

The first thing your fiancée needs to try and do is establish when the plywood was applied behind the siding and over the rotted wood and joist -- and who had this done.  

If he can prove that the previous owner (rather than an owner prior to the last previous owner) is the one who did this, it sounds like you have a case of fraud.  In that case, you should speak with an attorney in your area for legal advice on how to proceed.

If this cover up was done two owners back, the person your fiancée purchased from may not have known about this condition, either.

As a starting point to find out who the culprit is, I would call the previous owner and also the brokerage company that listed the house and ask some VERY pointed questions.  Before doing that, however, your fiancée might want to ask around with some of the neighbors.  If he can find the busy-body in the neighborhood, he just may find out a lot of information.

An inquiry at your local inspections office could also be another place for information.  If a permit was required for the work, and a permit was applied for and issued, therein may lie the answer.  If this was a weekend project for an unethical owner, no permit may have ever been applied for.

In case you are able to get the answers you need, you should also definitely take pictures of what you found.  It’s possible that a good contractor might be able to look at the repairs and give you an idea of how long ago the repair might have been done.  It’s worth a try.

I hope the above is helpful.  Good luck to you both.  Feel free to write again if you have additional questions.

Regards,
Elizabeth