Can You Sue the Seller for Hiding the Condition of the Home?

Did you recently buy a home only to discover that you didn't have all the information to make a good decision? The seller doesn't have an absolute right to hide information from buyers. If this has happened to you, here's what you can do.

What Does a Seller Have to Disclose About a Home?

Depending on where you live, the seller may have certain legally required disclosures such as mold, radon, and termites. For these types of disclosures, there is usually a form that becomes part of the closing documents where the seller must list the presence of any such conditions. These legal disclosures are not all the seller has to disclose.

The seller also has to disclose any material conditions the buyer can't reasonably discover on their own. For example, even if the law doesn't directly require the seller to disclose termites, the seller must disclose a termite infestation since the buyer couldn't see those on a tour of the home.

What About Home Inspections?

A seller might defend their failure to disclose on the grounds that you were able to request a home inspection and the home inspector could have found the condition. If the condition is something that would be found as part of a routine home inspection, the seller might have a valid case. If so, you would need to look at your contract with your home inspector to see if you could sue them if you missed something.

The seller may still be liable if they hid the condition or it couldn't reasonably be found by a home inspector. For example, the seller might know that there's a refrigerant leak in the air conditioner and add more refrigerant without getting the leak fixed so that the air conditioner appears to run normally during the inspection. That would likely give you a case against the seller.

What if the Seller Lies?

If the seller lies about the condition of the home, you likely have a very strong case. This is considered a fraudulent misrepresentation. For example, the seller might paint over mold and say the home doesn't have a history of mold.

This type of claim can be difficult because you have to prove what the seller said. You also may have signed other documents that said there were no representations made by the seller, so your lawyer will need to figure out if those are binding before proceeding.

To learn more about suing a seller for hiding facts about a home before closing, contact a local real estate law firm today.