Legal Question in Construction Law in Massachusetts

Greetings! An inspection company looked at our home before we bought it and in the process they overlooked that the house has 3 layers of shingles. In Massachusetts it is illegal to have more than two layers. The inspection was performed in 2003.

At the time of the inspection they stated that the roof was between 5 - 10 years old. The inspector did not ascend to the roof nor did he use binoculars; he simply eye-balled it.

However, the roof has gone from bad to worse over since 2003 and we had two contractors price a new roof. During this process both informed us that at minimum the roof was between 20 - 30 years old and there were three layers of shingles.

I approached the inspection company and asked if, given their error, they would pay for a portion of the cost of a new roof. Significant bargaining power was lost in negotiating the buying price of the home; had we been able to say "You've got three layers of shingles up there" we would have saved between eight and ten thousand dollars on the purchase price.

The inspection company merely fired a letter back saying that we're beyond the statue (they cited MASS CR, 266) and essentially told me that if I pursue this "frivolous" action they will "...pursue all and any lawful remedies to recoup all expenses incurred by us in defense of this frivolous claim".

My contention is that if State Law is breached (i.e., three layers of shingles) that would take precedence over them hiding behind a three year statue of limitations. Yes, No?

Many thanks.

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