Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Ohio

Who's liable after inspection / before closing?

We purchased a house over the summer. After we had the house inspected but before our official closing, there was a damaging hail storm. The original homeowners ''rented'' from us for a couple of months following the closing per our agreement. When we took possession of the house we noticed many neighbors getting new roofs. After a couple conversations, we learned that the hailstorm compromised the integrity of many roofs in the area. We have had two different companies tell us that we need a new roof and that they can say for certain that the hail storm created the damage. The orginal owners owned the house at the time of the storm. They say ''It's not our house''. We've offered to pay the deductable. Where do we stand?


Asked on 8/15/03, 9:27 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Who's liable after inspection / before closing?

If the storm occurred before the title transferred, then the prior owners would be responsible for the damage unless your real estate purchase contract altered the arrangement. They should make a claim against their insurance for the new roof. Most insurance companies recognize the severity of the Easter storm if that was the storm, but even if was another storm, there should not be a problem getting the insurance company to cover it (less deductible). I would suggest that if the sellers don't move on it, you have an attorney send them a letter and hopefully they will do something then or at least get their own attorney so the attorneys can address the issue.

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Answered on 8/15/03, 9:56 am


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