Question:
Agent in my office came to me with this dilemma. Has a potential listing, delayed due to a cracked foundation/basement leak. Repairs are done and seller doesn’t want to disclose. Said they are now interviewing other agents because this agent was firm on disclosing. They said they can just hire a different agent and not tell that agent (2nd agent wouldn’t know)
Would you lose the listing or take the sellers direction?
Answer:
There really isn’t enough information here to draw a proper conclusion. How serious was the problem? Was it enough to 1) render the premises structurally unsound, or 2) make the premises uninhabitable? The next step is whether there have or have not been sufficient repairs? Was this problem resolved or does it still leak?
Next issue is whether a home inspector upon reasonable examination would come across this. If so, then it’s patent, not latent.
Most of these types of issues do not obligate the Seller to disclose.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker