Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arizona
No disclosure of lack of phone service
We signed a contract to have a home built, finish date August 2006. We asked specifically about phone service, as I work from home as a medical transcriptionist, and it's necessary for me to have 2 phone lines - was told to check with Qwest and did so at that time. Qwest assured me there was no problem with obtaining two phone lines. Ordered phone service 11/27/07, we were given numbers and told phones to be hooked up on 12/1/07 (signed papers on house on 11/28/07). Qwest told us on 12/1 that they couldn't service our area! Called homebuilder - was told for the first time that we are in a ''dead zone'' - no phone service available. Needless to say, if we had known we had no phone service, we would not have signed the final papers.
We are at wit's end - have contacted all AZ govt. offices that we can find numbers for and cannot get any answers other than we can't help you. We're working on getting Wi-VOD now for VOIP protocol, but is there anything else we can do? Is it legal to sell a home without disclosing problems like this? Does Quest bear any resonsibility? Any advice greatly appreciated!!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: No disclosure of lack of phone service
It seems clear that the seller should have disclosed the fact that phone service was unavailable prior to your purchase.
Your contract may contain a clause requiring arbitration, rather than litigation, of such disputes. If arbitration is not required your legal remedies would include rescission, or alternatively, compensation for your costs and expenses incurred to get phone service.
You should definitely meet with an attorney and go over the facts before you proceed.
Re: No disclosure of lack of phone service
You case is very similar to mine in 2000. Qwest has a reputation.
I also feel that the disclosure statement for your subdivision should have contained this information.
You may have remedies, but this is too complex a problem to address in this limited format. LawGuru is designed to give answers to simple, one-issue questions, not evaluate an entire legal case.
You have done a good job in describing the facts, but more examination is needed of the purchase contract, subdivision report, and communications from Qwest. We offer free, no obligation consultations by calling 480.835.1500.
Best regards,
James D. Jenkins
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