Q: We bought our home (10mons), recently found a bad leak underneath bathtub, home insurance will not cover.
Can I contact Seller to repair/or cover the cost? We just detected this issue because this is a guest room and we hardly use it. until now and found it leaks underneath the bathtub per Fidelity home warranty inspection/assessment. They told us the home warranty will not cover this. Appreciate an advice what to do? Do we have a legal case from consumer perspective?
A:
I cannot tell you whether your home warranty should have covered the problem without looking at the contract. However, you definitely have a potential case against the seller. The issue with the seller would be proving that he or she had knowledge of the leak. If there are is evidence of attempted repairs, or if the problem was (a) there for a long time and (b) sufficiently serious that seller would have had to have known about it, you could sue for fraud. Also, in some cases, the neighbors or the seller's plumber or contractor may be aware of the problem, so it would be worth checking with them.
Disputes between buyers and sellers of real estate usually have to be arbitrated. Check your sales agreement for an arbitration clause and mediation requirement.
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