My neighbor is putting her house on the market. She has a leak in the foundation that is only noticeable in the carport when she does laundry. Knowing her, I'm pretty sure she will not disclose it and I dont see how it will be caught during the inspection if she's not running the washer. I'm just curious what the obligation to disclose that is? And what recourse there would be for the new buyer when they discover it? It seems like a pretty ****ty thing to do IMO.

ETA: I AM NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS SITUATION. I AM ONLY CURIOUS ABOUT DISCLOSURES AND RAMIFICATIONS FROM THIS TYPE OF SCENARIO. SO NO NEED TO BE A DICK.

We have a home inspector branch and I'm pretty sure they run all the appliances. I can make sure though.

I have no idea how long it has to run or if it's a specific part of the cycle for it to start leaking. It's not much water that comes up, but it's there. She would smell a sewer smell coming up from the sink. Whatever that means. It had a slow leak and burst in December and flooded the house. Got it fixed and then the slow leak started up again and she hasn't taken care of it. Now she's selling and I have a feeling this is one of the reasons why.

Election season is over. You've got a spot where that sign was. Put one up that says "watch out for slow leaks".
Then she can put up a "stop snitchin" sign. It will be like ted vs beto all over again in the burbs.

This probably sounded better in your head. And you might've missed the part where I said "I'm just curious".

Mind your own business. When the new owners move in, let them know about it so their new house doesn't flood.

Pretty sure that selling without disclosing a material defect like that is fraud. The original homeowner can be sued for repairs, attorney's fees, and other damages.

You could mention it to the neighbor now and see what she says, try and catch the home inspector and make sure he's aware, or wait until the new owner moves in and potentially get involved in a law suit. I would casually ask about how you think the leak will affect her home value.

Wow. Nosey neighbor. Mind your own business.

Matsui said:

---

Wow. Nosey neighbor. Mind your own business.

---

Yeah sounds great until you get involved in a law suit and are forced to disclose you knew about the situation

ellebee said:

---

This probably sounded better in your head. And you might've missed the part where I said "I'm just curious".

---

You got your answer in the first response. You're just living up to the stereotype now.

Jesus ****ing Christ. I wasn't planning on getting involved. It just got me wondering if there was any type of disclosure requirement in situations like that. I was just ****ing curious. For ****s sake.

ABATTBQ11 said:

---

Pretty sure that selling without disclosing a material defect like that is fraud. The original homeowner can be sued for repairs, attorney's fees, and other damages.

---

Thanks for giving me an answer without being a dick. Situations come up and I just get curious about the answers certain things. That is all. My internet search history has the most random stuff that just pops into my head that I get curious about and this time I made the mistake of asking.

And what stereotype would that be since you know me so well?

She just wants to talk about it on the internet. A nonchalant converaattional topic.

Lighten up Francis.

ellebee said:

---

Jesus ****ing Christ. I wasn't planning on getting involved. It just got me wondering if there was any type of disclosure requirement in situations like that. I was just ****ing curious. For ****s sake.

---

Yes, there is a requirement for the seller to disclose it. Whether she will is up to her. If the Realtor finds out, it's his duty to disclose it (as a Realtor, I would insist they disclose or I would decline to take the listing).

She is setting herself up for a troublesome sale.

Thanks! What other types of things do you have to disclose? Isn't there some weird thing where you don't have to disclose a murder or suicide but you have to disclose if someone had HIV?

expresswrittenconsent said:

---

ellebee said:

---

This probably sounded better in your head. And you might've missed the part where I said "I'm just curious".

---

You got your answer in the first response. You're just living up to the stereotype now.

---

The first response didn't come close to answering the question...

ellebee said:

---

Thanks! What other types of things do you have to disclose? Isn't there some weird thing where you don't have to disclose a murder or suicide but you have to disclose if someone had HIV?

---

No idea on the last part, but my understanding is any material defect that might affect whether the buyer would buy the home or affect their offer price. It could be electrical, plumbing, or HVAC issues, foundation problems, mold, etc.

ellebee said:

---

Thanks! What other types of things do you have to disclose? Isn't there some weird thing where you don't have to disclose a murder or suicide but you have to disclose if someone had HIV?

---

Maybe these will help you and her ellebee...

Selling a Texas Home: What Are My Disclosure Obligations?

TREC NO. OP-H SELLER'S DISCLOSURE NOTICE (08/17)

It would behoove her to either repair the issue or at a minimum, disclose it as it could cost her a significant amount more in the long haul...

As an FYI, my son and DIL were in the process of purchasing a house awhile back and discovered the owner didn't disclose a major slab leak issue (sewer leak that previously flooded the home multiple times) after the inspector noted there may be slab leak issue. My son and DIL paid to have a slab leak test performed during the option period and provided the owner with the test results noting a serious slab leak issue.

When the owners were notified of the slab leak issue, they reluctantly disclosed that there was an issue and somehow inadvertently provided them with some documentation that actually disclosed the issue existed. When my DIL, an attorney, discovered this she immediately notified them of the consequences involved and had them refund them for all of their expenses associated with their inspection and slab leak test within 24 hours or she was going to take them to court and she explained the added expenses (including court costs, attorney fees, etc.) they could be found responsible for if it went that far. They immediately refunded them for all their expenses and were able to walk away from the contract they had signed with no out of pocket expenses.

We have our house on the market currently and we erred on the side of caution and probably overly disclosed minor things (paint peeling on shop door) as a means to make certain that we aren't "hiding" anything. Even our listing agent remarked that the disclosures were a bit much but he appreciated everything being in the record

Oh dang!

disclosure form would look something like this:



If they know something is not working correctly an they check Yes under working condition, then that is illegal. If they didn't know, then it isn't.

You will notice on the above, the seller elected to answer Exists=N for Grinder Pump (when there was one), yet put 'Unknown' if in working condition. We bought, and a month later had plumbing problems due to a faulty grinder pump. We would have had to prove the homeowner knew about it, and that would have been virtually impossible to do, so we just chalked it up to a $4K learning experience.

Similarly, we bought our house last November and noticed some water damaged cabinets in the kitchen. We surmised this was from a dishwasher leak or something, but are now pretty sure water got in the back door during Harvey because of drainage issues on the back patio. We have no way to prove it, and the previous owners signed the affidavit saying it didn't food during Harvey. Oh well. We bought it anyway so it's not like it was a surprise

Ugh that sucks when there is no way to prove it.

For the Harvey flood issue, did y'all check with the neighbors?