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Real estate lawsuit question.?
House built in 1995 - located in Oklahoma City.
We purchased the house in 2005.
In the 3 years we have lived here, I have discovered that the house was built with ALL expenses spared.
I have been trying to find something wrong that would legally entitle me to sue the builder and previous owners. I believe the house is not up to code in several places and these shortcuts have caused major problems.
1. The roof has nothing but shingles...no tar paper. Found this out after ice storm. Ice melted and pushed water under the shingles and into the house...everywhere.
2. Many many bricks have cracked or simply fallen off. This has led to next discovery.
3. The house was not wrapped with any vapor barrier on the outside sheathing. They simply bricked right against bare wood. Plus they used old brick that simply soaks up water. This will cause the house to fall soon enough, but right now, it causes the house to feel sticky and humid inside. Unbearable.
4. The foundation is split right down the middle of the house. Discovered this upon pulling up carpet to put down the $2500 wood floor I bought. Well, can't install that with a severally unlevel foundation.. With the carpet padding, we never noticed the floor was not level. Upon discovery, my mind almost snapped...as this was simply one more major thing upon a long list of other major things.
The plumbing is bad, the electrical is bad....every single thing is bad.
I sent my wife to buy this house while I stayed in San Diego. Like an idiot, I relied on the inspection and the appraisal. Both were extremely fraudulant in hindsight.
Now I am stuck with a 160K in mortgage balance on a house that is probably worth 100K in current condition.
I don't have a subprime mortgage...I am not in that category, yet I am in the same boat.
If anyone has any ideas about whether or not a lawsuit is possible pls let me know. As I don't know how else I will ever get out of this thing.
Thanks,
It is a standard asphalt shingle roof.
4 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
It's taken you three years to discover this, and you want to punish the previous owners for YOUR mistake? They didn't build the house, and they probably didn't know about the condition, just like you didn't. It's not their fault that houses are build with little consideration for durability; that's ANY house you buy. Ask yourself, how would YOU liked to be sued just for selling your house...
- Anonymous1 decade ago
The roof is probably done correctly.
There are two types of wood roof, wood shingle and wood shake.
the Wood Shake roof uses tar paper as the waterproof barrier.
The wood shakes merely prodent the tarpaper form the sun and add decoration.
However wood shingle uses accurately cut shingles of wood that fit together like a boat hull.
When dry there is about 1/16 inche space between each shingle. When the shingles get wet they expand and form a tight seal against the water.
Wood shingles for that reason do not use tar paper because they are the water proof barrier.
With the other issues I recommend that you contact an attorney who specializes in real estate in your area.
I recommend that you hire several different building contractors to give you their opinions on the construction of the home.
If you have issues that you can pursue in court they will become the expert witnesses that you will need to prove your case.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Assuming this is not a brand new house, you can't sue the builder - he didn't make any representations to you as to the state of the property.
The prior owner might be on the hook if you can prove he/she knew anything about these problems.
The home inspection will have had a number of caveats built into the report - 'unable to inspect' blah blah - generally, that stuff will stand up in court. So things like the uneven floor, which could only be seen when you pulled up the carpet is definitely not something you can raise with them. Code violations that are obvious (faulty wiring, or the missing tar paper) are the area to go after with the home inspection people. Those are reasonably detectable, and no amount of wriggling will get them out of those.
- Anonymous5 years ago
Well, the wife might be right about owning at least part of it, depending on the laws about divorces and community property in that state. She very probably could technically own half of it, whether her name was on the title or not. That said, just because she owns it, doesn't mean your dad knew she owned it. If he can prove that he was told she was out of the picture, then she has no case against him for fraud. I think she can force him to give up the sale, but if he can prove he didn't know she was considered a partial owner, your dad definitely doesn't owe her anything. If you keep getting these threats, I would hire a lawyer who specializes in real estate disputes.
