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Buying or Selling a Home/Sold a house and now 7 months later problems

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Expert: John Hendricks - 11/30/2007


Question
Ok here is the problem I sold my house in CA. It was closed and all in April. When selling there were no problems that were brought up except that our community well is getting old and it might have to be replaced. But there was no need for it yet. My and my ex sold all our stuff (furniture) to the new owners. My ex priced it alot lower then we wanted he said that it was so that if soon they would say about replacing the well that we would be equal. So bacisally he didn't get it in writing so, thats his fault. But here is where my problem is we now got a letter in the mail from atty.silver oak real estate co saying that due to undisclosed problems on the well we are to pay $4125.00. We must contact the new owners and/or legal actions will be taken. First are they able to do that its been 7 months, second it was stated that it maybe an issue in the future, third are we really going to have to pay for it. What can we do.

Answer
Dear Jill;

Thank you for your question… I am sorry for the delay, as I was unavailable the last 4 days to answer in the period of time I am accustomed to providing. Please accept my apology.

1.   Regarding the oral agreement; In real estate, all conditions have to be in writing to be enforceable and since this was a verbal “if you do this I will do that” more than likely you would not be able to prove your position.
2.   Regarding the potential legal action if you do not pay, I would refer to your written contract to obtain the terms and conditions in which disputes are resolved. This will give you a clear explanation of your rights as the seller and how you may go about resolving an issue that arises after the close of escrow. I would also call your real estate agent for a further explanation of this section in your contract.
3.   Regarding your question whether you have to pay for this or not… I would recommend that you review your copies of all disclosure statements made by you, the community well documents, and general reports that were provided by both you and the buyers to determine whether or not the buyers had knowledge of the community well problem. If the buyers did have prior knowledge in writing and they acknowledged the situation, you would be in a good position to prove full disclosure on your behalf with no further involvement by you.
4.   If you did not disclose this potential problem, the question now is did your agent have knowledge of the problem with the well?  If the agent did have knowledge of problem with the well and did not disclose on their agents disclosure statement, they may have some responsibility in this situation as well.

I would highly recommend that you contact your agent, and the agent’s broker/manager prior to any admission to any lack of disclosure or willingness to pay any money at all. Provide a copy of the letter, and ask for a thorough review of the contract and what your options are under the circumstances.  Since I do not have a copy of any documentation, it is hard to give you a complete answer to your problem. I would highly recommend you review this letter with your agent, or legal counsel prior to determine your legal position and not rely on my statement alone when you make your decisions.

Warmest Regards:
John Hendricks

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John Hendricks

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As a California Realtor for 23 years practicing in Marin and Sonoma Counties, it is now time to provide counsel through AllExperts.com to those who need advise in real estate. My knowledge and experience includes a wide range of resale residential real estate purchases, new home sales, income related investment properties involved in 1031 exchanges, and land. Let me help you in any of these areas...

Experience

John Hendricks has established himself as one of Marin & Sonoma Counties premier Realtors. A native Californian, John is a well-known and respected Realtor in both Marin & Sonoma Counties who has resided in the Northbay since 1976. John began his real estate career in 1986, and since then has distinguished himself as one or Northern California's top producing Realtors. Before joining Frank Howard Allen Realtors, John was an associate of the Prudential California Realty from 1990-1992 where his outstanding sales achievements earned him one of the company's highest honors, the prestigious "President's Circle Membership", presented to the top 2% of associates for sales and earning excellence. Since his association with the highly regarded Frank Howard Allen Realtors in 1992, John has once again established himself as one of his company's Top 10 Producing Realtors in Marin & Sonoma Counties for the years 1993 through 2007 and now in 2008. Five continuous years of outstanding performance has now allowed John to join 15 other Realtors in the prestigious "Lifetime Hall of Fame" for Frank Howard Allen Realtors. John established a group of professional individuals who specialize in a variety of areas in real estate called, 'Lundmark-Hendricks Fine Homes' This group of professionals are dedicated to the success of representing clients with the greatest amount of care and service when either buying or selling real estate.

Organizations
California Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors

Education/Credentials
Upon Request...

Awards and Honors
Frank Howard Allen Realtors "Hall of Fame Member" Chairman's Circle for 10 consecutive years

Past/Present Clients
Joe Louis & Sharon Sigurdson We want to thank you again for your excellent representation of interests during the recent purchase of our home in Petaluma as well as the sell of our home in Mill Valley. We had the unusual pleasure of working with you during the last year both as sellers and buyers. We felt that our interests were always paramount and that we received a very fair price for the sale of the Mill Valley house as well as our purchase of our new home. This speaks particularly well of you, because of the recent unstable and chaotic real estate market. Will Finke "Quite frankly, we came out of a very difficult situation, which time does not allow elaborating on. This was one of the greatest experiences of our lives as clients. John Hendricks is one of the top businessmen I have ever met." Bruce & Nancy Rosentreter "I chose John Hendricks to sell my house. I picked him because I thought he was professional, aggressive, and that he could get top dollar for my house. He fulfilled my expectations completely." Joy Schuelke "Since we were trying to sell a high end home in a very tough market, and in the middle of a very rainy winter, the prospects seemed quite bleak. I was convinced at the time, and am even more so now, that without John's tenure, patience, and tenacity, we would have not been able to move the property." Lynn McCarthy "I cannot stress strongly enough how impressed I was with the service provided to me by John and his group. Throughout the entire transaction, John was always available, always forthcoming with excellent advice based on his years of experience, and always willing to put in the extra effort to make this a positive experience for me. I feel lucky to have had the experience of working with him." Lea Lieurance-Turk "Thank you John for your outstanding real estate services for the past 5 years I have known you. You have made my dreams come true as far as selling and buying property."
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