We love our home, the green space that surrounds it is great, this is the most manicured green space we have seen. The Realtor tells the buyer, well it is actually a golf course. This home is located on the longest and most difficult hole. While looking out through their window a Titleist is coming in for a crash landing!! CRASH!!! The new home owner wants to know, is this someones errant golf ball.? The Realtor says, “Didn’t you understand that your home is just to the south side of this difficult hole?”
This is just an example of a possible lawsuit that could arise if the proper disclosure was not filled out. Disclosures are most of the paperwork that you as a seller or buyer have to fill out. Each year there are more and more disclosures to fill out. As a seller or a buyer at what point are you understanding where the house is located, the school district and availability for each of your children, possible flood potential, oh and what about the rowdy neighbors that barbecue in their front yard every Saturday. Yes, even that must be disclosed to the potential buyer. The seller is responsible for all of this knowledge. Aren’t you as a buyer going to be aware of the surroundings in which you are buying. We all need to take the proper responsibility for what we buy and sell. So if you have a nice manicured lawn around your home that is not yours…. check your errant golf ball disclosure.
And if the lawn is too nice and there is no disclosure don’t be too shy to ask about it. The law most often relies on the “reasonable person” standard — (would a reasonable person be expected to know) would it be reasonable for a person to know that the big, beautiful empty lot across the street had been sold to a developer without getting a listing? Would the seller be responsible for disclosing that the big, beautiful empty lot would be 96 two-story houses and fully obstruct the view, increase traffic and totally change the neighborhood?
You might have known or it may not be reasonable to expect someone to know what isn’t yet public. So asking about it may be a partial solution: when you get that “I uh…um….couldn’t say!” vibe it may be time to look elsewhere.
You can sue later, but the court or arbitrator may not be as “reasonable”…
Comment by Daniel — December 7, 2007 @ 8:18 am |