Q: Liability of selling without disclosing a plumbing issue on 2nd floor which affects subfloor/ceiling? who is responsible
A:
It depends on what your paperwork says. Did you get a residential real property disclosure form? What was noted thereon about any plumbing issues? What about an inspection of the home? Did you have one performed by an independent inspector?
What is the particular plumbing issue? When did it appear?
If this was a long standing problem that was either known or reasonably should have been known prior to the sale and was not disclosed to the buyer, then the prior seller of the home would be responsible. If this problem arose suddenly after the sale and was only discovered then, the seller cannot be faulted. The seller is not an insurer of everything that goes wrong after the sale. However, the seller is not allowed to deliberately conceal problems that the seller has reason to know of. If you had a home inspection and the inspector screwed up, then the inspector may also be liable.
I suggest that you take the relevant documents (residential real property disclosure, home inspection report, a write-up from a plumber and contractor documenting the existing problem) and have it all reviewed by a real estate litigation attorney to see what your responsibility would be or whether anyone else would be liable here.
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