Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Recently purchased a condo in Long Beach California. When asked if there were any discloseures regarding the condition of the roof, etc..nothing was disclosed. After moving in, we found out there is a huge problem with water damage on some of the balconies and it will cost about $250,000 to fix. Each condo owner will need to pay $7,400. The managment company and the HOA board knew of the problem, but none of this was disclosed to us. The woman that owned the condo is deceased, and her son sold the condo in a rush to get the money. I don't even know that he knew about the problem. However, we aren't sure how to get this problem resolved and don't think we should be held accountable for paying $7,400. We purchased the condo in March and they were getting estimates in Jan, 2010, but the issue has been recorded as a major problem since 2006. Do we stand a chance of not having to pay for this water damage problem? Should we try and communicate the problem to the son of the deceased owner? Or do we just go the lawyer/court way?


Asked on 8/16/10, 12:59 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

If you think you can prove fraud or failure to disclose known condition, you could file suit. You must make a judgment call whether to spend substantial legal fees over a $7400 claim. You could bring action in small claims court against the sellers and brokers. You can try to resolve it without litigation, with or without aid of an attorney. For the cost of a few hours of attorney time, it may be possible for your attorney to negotiate an agreement that relieves you of liability tor that repair cost. If serious about pursing this, feel free to contact me.

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Answered on 8/21/10, 1:06 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

A seller cannot - and therefore isn't required to - disclose matters unknown to him, and non-resident owner/sellers are not generally expected to know matters of this kind. So, unless you have some evidence that, despite not living there, the son knew about the problems, your case would be weak. If you employed an agent or broker to act on your behalf, you might have a case for breach of the fiduciary duty to investigate if the agent or broker did not inquire of the HOA about existing or pending assessments and then pass the information on to you.

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Answered on 8/21/10, 1:39 pm


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