Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

New Owner is threatening lawsuit for unknown problem

I recently sold house which was vacant when I bought it in 7/05 and remained vacant until I sold it (we updated it to sell)The new owner had her inspections and now it has been discovered that the roof which is 3-4yrs old was put on wrong and covered the roof vents in the upstairs allowing condensation to build when the owner takes a shower in the upstairs. I paid to have this fixed but the problem remained and now it is another 1000 to revent the entire roof. I offered to split it with her agent and have given her the original roofer name to contact for repairs but nothing has been done to fix the problem and now she is complaining of mold.Also she is asking that I re-tile the bathrooms since they were resurfaced, although an addendum was added to the contract when asked to provide one by her agent. Also in the final walk thu they noticed a crack in the finish of one tile and asked me to address it, I addendumed that I would contact the resurfacing co and authorize any repairs covered under warranty which they did but the owner is now not satisifed and want new tile thruout to avoid future problems. I want to avoid a lawsuit by her but also need to know my responsibility as an owner/agent in order to address this situation.


Asked on 6/04/06, 7:51 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Michael Olden Law Offices of Michael A. Olden

Re: New Owner is threatening lawsuit for unknown problem

go see a real live attorney now, yesterday who is expert in real estate and litigation and take all, i mean all of your paperwork to him/her. good luck

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Answered on 6/04/06, 8:48 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: New Owner is threatening lawsuit for unknown problem

It sounds as though you have a cantankerous buyer or a real problem property. Also, there are some facts here that suggest you are a licensed real estate professional or at least a semi-experienced real estate wheeler-dealer.

If there is some truth to these speculations on my part, it looks to me as though you have a tactical decision, or several decisions, to make regarding incurring costs (for repairs) voluntarily, versus chancing a lawsuit....and if a suit follows, whether it will be successful.

Since you have more facts that the LawGuru attorneys will have, we are not really in a very good position to make these tactical decisions for you. However, my gut reaction here is that since you were never an occupant of this house, you are not presumed to know that much about it. This is somewhat offset by your professional status (assuming you are an agent) and the work you did have done, which will show that you had some information about the house's condition. Further, if the work you had done was done improperly, you may be held responsible for the consequences of negligent repairs done by you, or for incomplete repairs if you knew and didn't disclose that the problem being addressed wasn't fully fixed.

Generally, I'd advise fixing anything that amounts to negligent repairs and anything that is an incomplete repair of a condition you knew about or should have known about and didn't disclose. Otherwise, your responsibility to the buyer is less clear and you're on firmer ground refusing to pay for repairs.

Still, without knowing all the facts, it's only a guess.

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Answered on 6/04/06, 10:23 pm


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