Expert: Dick Dennis - 7/26/2010

Question
Mr. Dennis, My husband and I purchased a home in Sept 08 and now it is July 10.  As first time homebuyers we knew little about what to look for in a home.  After looking at what seemed like hundreds of distressed and foreclosed homes, we were really excited when we saw our current home; it didn't need any work; we just moved in. The carpeting on the floor of the basement became problematic after the first big rain.  With the last big rain fall in Chicago, we didn't to remove the carpet and it was appauling what we saw.  There were cracks all through out the foundation, severely lop-sided concrete, a quarter-sized hole was in the floor and mold was setting up moving up the walls.  of course my question is what can be done to the guy we bought the house from because he was obviously not honest and what about the inspector?  I think having the outlets midway the way should have been a tell-tale sign for him that house got water in the basement.

Answer
What you have to do first, Dawn, is to assess the value of the work that has to be done. That means getting the necessary experts to look at and give you their prices to replace everything. Once you do that, you would have to send letters to the inspector, the Realtors, and the former owner explaining the problem and that you would appreciate the work being taken care of. That means they would have to pay for the work that must be done.

After 30 days of answers (or no answers) you find yourself a very good REAL ESTATE attorney and show him/her your problem. If it is a good attorney, the problem will be taken care of from that point. The Realtor is contacted because almost every one is covered by errors and omissions insurance. And the Realtor should have had the seller disclose everything.

However, if a bank was the seller, you may have a totally different problem. The bank should have had you and your husband sign a document saying that you are accepting the property "as-is, where-is" condition. If you bought the property in a short-sale transaction, then you really may have no recourse because the seller did not receive a dime from the sale. You can go talk to an attorney, but I really don't know what kind of reply you would receive. I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis
dixiedee13@aol.com