I was talking with a lawyer friend of mine, and the previous blog came up. He relayed an experience to me that he was involved with.
In another state (thankfully) there was a case with a Broker that sold a house he owned. It seems that he lied on the property disclosure, wrote both sides of the sale, fought against the buyers having their own representation... and even against an inspection, and had plenty to hide.
The buyers are not blameless, but this should never have happened.
It seems there was a wonderful pond on the rear of the property. It was totally on the subject property, and had only been created a couple of years before. The broker had owned this property for a number of years. So, time passes after the sale and there is an issue with the pond. There is also an issue with the foundation of the house... and the roof... and the driveway. The buyers have to have the pond drained for an aeration system. They have to bring in a structural company to look at the foundation (part of the house is having a major settlement issue), and a portion of the recent roof has a severe problem.
This isn't good. This $300,000 property needs another $200,000 worth of work to be livable. When the pond is drained, there are barrels. Barrels of used motor oil and other hazardous materials have been dumped. The pond was created (without the required liner) to cover the problem. There were also chunks of concrete from the previous driveway, and other construction materials. The contaminants were seeping into the groundwater... that feeds the well.
The roof was found to not be as new as the disclosure stated. It had actually been painted to look like a new roof. It was smooth, but the wood beneath had serious issues, andin order to actually fix it, the roof and the deck needed to be replaced.
The structural company comes out and (shocker) it wasn't their first visit. Our hero had actually ordered an inspection a couple of years prior, and received a report about the problem. It was the same problem that the driveway was having. My source didn't have all of the details, but it appeared to have been buried materials from the construction of the house, combined with poor grading.
Nothing had been disclosed. Actually, there were items that the seller/broker knew about that were specifically falsified.
He lost his license, his business, and the lawsuit.
If you are an agent or a broker, I know that you are disgusted by the actions of this individual. I know that all of us, and especially REALTORS stand for better conduct.
If you are a buyer or seller, please take heart that people like this lose, and leave the business. Also, NEVER go into the sale unrepresented, and ALWAYS get independent inspections. And disclose what is required. Dealing honestly protects everyone.
Unless otherwise noted, all content of this blog is the property of Lane Bailey, ©2012 Lane Bailey.
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