Expert: Hans Weber, Licensed Broker Associate - 8/28/2007

Question
I bought my house in feb. in nys and the seller never completed the disclosure form and never credited us the money. Now we have have found mold in our house and a water seepage problem in the basement. We failed to have an inspection on the house done because we trusted the seller (a friend of a friend). Is the seller liable for this?

thank you for your help in advance.

Bob

Answer
Hi Bob,

Thank you for your question.

I don't know who dropped the ball by not getting you the $500 credit.  That is required at the closing by law in New York State.  So you should call your attorney about this and try to get the credit from the seller.  The next step would be to call the NYS Department of State.

New York is still a buyer beware state and since no disclosure form was filled out by the seller you should have had a home inspection.  Even with a completed disclosure form you should have had an inspection.  

The mold and water seepage, is it visible all the time or only now in the wet, humid summer?  It could be that even with an inspection it might not have been discovered in the middle of winter.

The seller may not have known about the mold.  Not everyone notices it.  The water seepage could be seasonal of even a rare event.  My basement was fine during hurricane Floyd huge flooding, but this spring we had a daylong rainstorm that flooded my basement!!

First off it was your mistake not to do an inspection, but you can't do it over.  No disclosure form is totally ok, but your attorney or the title closer should have recognized that you did not get the $500 credit.  You need to speak to your attorney about getting the money for you.

Good luck,

Hans