Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania
Six weeks ago I sold a house in PA. Before the closing, a hallway light had stopped working and upon request of the buyer, I employed an electrician to fix the light. He did this and I paid his bill.
The new owner now claims that the light was not working properly and has hired her own electrician to fix it. The buyer is now threatening me with small claims court to pay her electricians bill. Am I liable for this?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Do you have the receipt? Did the buyer do the final walkthrough the day before closing? Usually, if closing has occurred, then the buyer accepts the property as it is. If the buyer did not ask to see a copy of the receipt for the electrician's bill then she accepted the property as is.
You might want to respond to her or have a lawyer write her a letter. Explain that she asked you to fix the problem, you did (provide receipt for the work) and advise her that the light was working fine when you closed (if that is the case). Now, if your electrician charged you and really did not fix the problem or messed something up, then you might be liable and you would have to go after your electrician. But that would require proof of what the problem was.
How much is the bill? If the bill is for a small sum, just to make this go away with the least aggravation, you could ask for proof of the bill and what was wrong and maybe offer to pay something towards the bill if warranted (after talking this over with your electrician) but not the whole thing.