Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Arkansas

I think we were set up for a suit for monetary gsin

We were pursued by a business associate who wished to do a 1031 exchange of his house for one of our rent houses in another area. The appraisals were near equal. However,the house of ours is near a major city so it's land value is greater. We explained this and told him to go see the house as it did need some repairs. It's value was equal because of it's location and not it's condition. He indictated that he understood this and wasn't concerned since he worked in construction and intended to remodel the home and sell it for a profit. My husband disclosed all that we knew to be wrong verbally. He offered to do it in writing, but the associate declined and offered a verbal disclosure of his property. On at least four occasions my husband requested that he go and see the house as we did not want him to be disappointed since the house did require some work. He declined. We found this odd but went ahead and closed.We have just been hit with a lawsuit accusing us of nondisclosure. He also states he has lost income from fireworks on his property that we kept him from selling. There were very few fireworks left when we took posession, but a witness saw many before this man moved. This man has a dishonest reputation. How do we handle it?


Asked on 1/04/07, 4:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Harvey Harris Harris Law Firm

Re: I think we were set up for a suit for monetary gsin

The first thing to do is to answer the suit. There is a time limit that you have to answer it. You have to file it in the court where the summons tells you to file it, and send a copy to the party that sued you (or his attorney). You may want to consider hiring an attorney to do this for you. You may be able to file a counterclaim against this person when you file your answer. You will need to consult with your attorney about that.

Please do this immediately so you don't lose this suit because of not filing an Answer on time. As far as how to proceed after that, I would need more details of how and when everything occurred. You will want to discuss this with your attorney, to work out you plan to move forward.

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Answered on 1/04/07, 6:23 pm


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