Q: Filing a show-cause order on previous owner to answer why they should not pay repairs they knew existed
Seller stated new roof complete new roof 5 years ago Roof has got rotten spots in the plywood bathroom floors got rotten spots in the plywood around the toilet and the tub seller's installed ceramic tiles over to cover it up painted the ceiling is kills Staind blocker and smell blocker I like to know if I can file the show-cause order for them to answer why they shouldn't be held liable for the repairs that need to be done I'm pretty much prove that they know about the problems let me ask this what kind of proof do you have to have to prove to the court sellers knew about the problems and covered it up. I have video as I was tearing up the tiles in the bathroom floor there was a newspaper dated 2005 that was in a hole in the floor when I moved the tub newspaper was wadded-up under the floor
previous owner purchase house in 97 and lived in the home until 2018
A: As the petitioner, you are correct that you will have the burden of proving sellers knew about these conditions. This can be shown in many ways: repairs done, older photographs, statements by neighbors, etc. The burden is by a preponderance of the evidence, so more likely true than not.
A:
Rather than play lawyer you’d be better off seeing if a local attorney with experience in failure-to-disclose cases would represent you on a contingency (percentage basis). Missouri’s consumer protection statute, tenMercjandising Prscticed Act, covers residential real estate sales and provides strong remedies.
A show cause order is an order typically filed in a lawsuit after one party has failed to do something and the other party is seeking an order requiring the relief. What you would need would be to serve discovery requests or take a deposition to find out what the sellers knew.
Your immediate challenge will be finding representation unless you have more than a hunch that the sellers knowingly failed to disclose.
Best Wishes.
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