Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: home inspection

This is an example of why we recommend to buyers and sellers the importance of using an attorney in conjunction with the negotiation of a Purchase & Sale Agreement.

There are a variety of issues which arise under the facts which you mention, including whether there is any agreement at this point, and or whether you breached your obligations under any agreement (the accepted Offer to Purchase & Inspection Contingency, and or the P&S), and whether the Sellers breached their obligation not to make false, material statements. The problem here is that your inspector, paid by you and not obliged in any way to the Seller advised you that you would need a new roof. (... and there is some grey area in here as well - the inspector may be recommending that you replace the roof well before the roof actually leaks, while the contractor may be suggesting that you could "stretch things out" for a while before having to shell out for a new roof, even accepting the risk of an unexpected leak) You do have a hearsay problem, since you are hearing third hand what the contractor said to the Sellers according to the inspector, and second hand from the Sellers.

It is not entirely clear whether you simply didn't pay the P&S deposit, or whether you are referring to the closing. In any event, you should probably contact an attorney at this stage. Consider too if the Sellers were not truthful on this matter, were there other statements which they made which you might be relying on?

Generally, while sometimes home inspectors miss things, you should be very careful when they alert you to problems.

Re: home inspection

It depends what you want to do. If you don't want the house because it needs a roof, you can probably get out of the P&S where money has not changed hands, b/c the P&S was entered into on a material misrepresentation or misunderstanding by you as to the remaining life of the roof. Or because you entered the P&S laboring under a mistake of fact, such that there was no meeting of the minds b/w the seller and you as to the condition of the home you agreed to purchase at a specific price.

If the seller negligently or intentionally misrepresented the condition of the roof, you would have especially good grounds for getting out of the P&S based on that.

If you want the house, but don't want to deduct the difference between the value of the house as you thought it was (assuming it had a roof with life left in it), and the actual value of the house (with a roof that needs replacing).

There are other ways to measure the difference as well, such as by paying to replace the roof yourself then backcharging the seller to for reimbursement (not recommended), or requiring the seller to replace the roof prior to closing -- conditioning closing on the replacement of the roof -- or to place funds to pay for the roof in escrow, to pay for the repair.)

Trying to reduce the purchase price for the house based on a misunderstanding (or misrepresentation) is likely to lead to a dispute, so be sure to document everything carefully, and don't make or sign legal agreements without spelling out how the issue will be handled.

Also, do NOT pay over the entire purchase price for the house, on the naked promise by seller to fix it; hold funds back from the price until the seller actually fixes it to ensure you don't overpay then have to chase the seller for a refund.

Contact me if you need help. I recently tried a case very similar to this and konw the issues well.