Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Pennsylvania
My wife and I bought our first home 4 years ago this may. We were very impressed with how meticulous everything was , especially the finished basement. Even the laundry room was painted perfectly and everything looked new.This was the house for us. We had a home inspection done and there were no major issues found. The inspector did mention that due to the grading of the side yard he was surprised that there was no water issues in the basement.The home seller signed a discloser stating that there were no issues they were aware of. They had owned the house for 15 years.We bought the house and were thrilled with the move in condition and the "newness" of the finished basement. It was only 6 months before we started having problems in the basement. It started with the bathroom. The toilet would back up even though it was rarely used. We assumed it was just a basic clogg. Then we began to smell sewage in the basement.As I said we bought the house in may and the following spring was the first wet season we lived in the house. We soon realized water was leaking through the freshly painted block walls of the laundry room section of the basement. The black mold soon followed. Then the drains began backing up in the laundry room and flooding the floor.After bringing in multiple plumbers it was determined that there are probably broken pipes under the basement floor.We can no longer use the bathroom in the basement.We are told the carpet will need lifted , the floor jack hammered and the pipes replaced. The mold problem has gotten worse and we are resigned to the fact that the foundation will need excavated and sealed then the ground graded around it. We have come to the conclusion that these problems could not have just started after we moved in. What are the odds? We now realize that the freshly painted laundry room was done to cover up the mold issues and the beautiful finished basement was done right before we moved in to quickly raise the value of the home.We are at our wits end. We cant afford to fix these issues and we feel as though there is no way these problems didnt exsist untill right after we moved in.. Do we have any rights? What are the statute of limitations on things like this.
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you started experiencing these problems during the first year of living there, that would have been the time to take action and making a claim against the seller.
Depending on the sequence in which events took place, you may still have a claim.
Consult a real estate lawyer in your area to evaluate your rights and options.
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