Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington
Disclosure Statement Misrepresented
We bought our current home (a split entry, 4 bdrm 2 bath, with a finished basement) about a year ago. Because we started having sewer odor smells on and off from the basement we called a plumber. He told us that the plumbing on our shower downstairs was not done properly and certainly not professionally. So, one thing leading to another, there were no permits pulled to finish the basement and now we are stuck with getting everything up to code from plumbing to electrical wiring - and so far we have estimates that total over $9,000. The previous owners state on the Disclosure Statement that they did do additions/ remodeling and that they did get all permits and final inspections obtained. But, when we wrote a letter to them to try to get them to fix the problems they deny having done the work and blame it on the original owner. We tracked the original owner and he coincides with what the county has on record that he sold the house to them as a 2 bedrm 1 bath with an unfinished basement. Our dilema is that small claims court in Washington only covers up to $4,000 and the people we bought the house from are not at all cooperative. What route(s) should we take? or Do you have any suggestions on what we should do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Disclosure Statement Misrepresented
Yes, You need to hire an attorney and sue them for failing to disclose issues with the house, and based on the facts you are providing here, their failure to disclose was not negligent it was willful.
If you would be kind enough to tell me what county you are in I would be happy to give you some names of attorneys who can help you.
The law on failing to disclose known defects provides for attorney fees to be awarded by the Court to the prevailing party.
If you went through a realtor, they may have liability issues as well.
Small Claims isn't where you need to litigate this, as your damages are well over $9K, and may well be even more.
The attorney fee award could be significant. Many attorneys will take on matters like this expecting to be paid when it settles.
I watched a case like this with similar facts (only not as egregious) where the prevailing plaintiffs were awarded 70K in damages for failure to disclose a leaking roof and their attorney was awarded about 125K in fees.
Don't be scared to lawyer up.
Hope this helps - Elizabeth Powell
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