Q: Sellers did not disclose any history of floods, drain issues in basement. We closed on the house, 9 days in and flood!
The entire basement floods. Half of the trim we had to pull off was foam that looked like wood. The threshold into the bathroom is missing (we know why now) and we saw previous moisture damage near the back door. The drain outside is obviously not working, the plumber can’t find where it leads to. We are going to have to dig up the yard and reroute the drain. Potentially tear all the walls down in the basement. There’s no way this is the 1st time this has happened, we attempted to reach out to our realtor, she reached out to their agent and they will not respond to us. Sellers did not disclose any of this. What do we do!? We would not have bought this house had we known any of this. We’re very very stressed out.
A: Unfortunately, your question is one I encountered too often. I suggest you schedule a consultation with an attorney familiar with Missouri's consumer protection statute, the Merchandising Practices Act (MPA). The MPA potentially provides for better damages, such as punitive damages, and attorney's fees to the prevailing party atop actual damages. The challenge in these cases is often coming up with admissible evidence that the sellers knew of the defect. A hunch is not admissible evidence even if it's true. Sometimes, a well written letter from an attorney will result in a settlement without filing a lawsuit. Sometimes not.
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