Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas
4 sale by owner/owner built, what is the legnth of liability?
We recently recieved a letter from the couple that purchased our home in 1998. They are saying that the house is having a lot of problems with the sheet rock. I think they are referring to the seems, from reading their letter. It has been two years since we moved. We sold the home "By Owner" through a title company. What are my responsibilities as a seller?
Secondly, We general contracted the building of the home ourselves. We had a contractor do the sheetrock, but my husband and father-in-law helped with the sheet rock as well to help keep costs down. What is our liability from this perspective?
Do I need to get an attorney? How should we respond to their letter requesting information on the contractor? Is it important that the contractor was liscenced? He was a liscenced contractor, but my husband and father-in-law were not.
I appreciated your timely response. The sooner we respond, the better we will look to the buyers I hope. Thanks for your help. Sincerely, No name
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: 4 sale by owner/owner built, what is the legnth of liability?
1. So long as your home was constructed in conformity with all applicable building codes, and passed inspection, the workmen installing sheetrock need not be licensed contractors. A homeowner does not require a license to install sheetrock in his own home.
2. A seller is required to disclose known defects in the property. If you knew the sheetrock was defective and would fail, then you are legally responsible for the cost of repair. If you did not deliberately conceal a known defect from the buyer, and you found out about it at the same time he did, then legally you have no liability.
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