You walk through a home, and the seller assures you that it’s just as perfect as it looks. You’re excited. You put in an offer, they counter and you agree on a price. The home is yours.
When you move in, though, it becomes clear that there were some issues with the house. It wasn’t as pristine as it looked. In fact, some of the upgrades made to the house look like they may have just covered up real issues — as new basement floor over a foundation crack, for instance. Now what?
There are cases where you can sue the people who sold you the home. They are supposed to disclose all major defects before you buy. If they concealed them or deliberately did not tell you about things that they knew were wrong, that’s a breach of your trust.
There are a few stipulations. If the defects were obvious, for instance, you can’t claim you didn’t know. A common example is a large ceiling crack. You are supposed to do an inspection before buying and obvious defects are things you want to watch out for.
The defect also has to be there before you. If there’s a question about who caused it, that can pose a problem for you. Maybe the seller accuses you of doing a renovation and creating the damage, for instance. This can make your situation far more complex.
If you do find defects or get involved in a dispute with the seller, make sure you know exactly what legal steps you can take.