Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
We bought a bank-owned foreclosure house which was listed as �Sold As Is� a few months ago. The house is �old�, but right before it was put for sale on the market, the seller�s agent hired a painting contractor to repaint the whole interior house, which made the house visually appealing.
After we moved in a few days, we started finding the paint on the interior woodwork (such as furniture, trims, window frames, and doors) peeling off when we touched it. A home improvement professional helped us check around, and said the new latex paint was straightly applied over the old oil-based paint without the necessary precautions (such as priming or sanding), and as a result the new paint will be peeling in areas throughout the home, which is just a matter of time.
We did have the house inspected by a reputed home inspector, but aesthetic and cosmetic factors (e.g., paint and wallpaper) and the condition of finish materials and coverings were not covered in his report.
We contacted both our agent and the seller�s agent. The seller�s agent provided the painting contractor�s phone number and email address, and said there is nothing more he can help. I made many calls and also sent quite a few emails to the painting contractor, and finally the contractor called me back but said: he didn�t sign the painting contract with me, and the contract is not transferrable. If there is any issue, the seller�s agent should contact him. I went back to the seller�s agent to seek help, but the agent kept telling me the same thing: there is nothing more he can do.
This is a 4000+ sq feet house with a lot of interior furniture, wood doors, windows, and trims. Repainting all the interior woodwork will be a big financial challenge for us. Please advise if we have a case here. Here is my arguing point: even though the house is SOLD As Is, the seller should still hold the responsibility and liability for the wrongdoing (even it is unintentional) that could not be detected before closing. If the house doesn�t have that �false� visual effect brought by the new repainting, we might not proceed the purchase or might offer a lower price.
Thanks & Regards
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your theory is unsupported by Florida law. They may have be responsible for advising you about known defects but not ones they were unaware of. As is means what it says. It your obligation to check all aspects out. Sorry.
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