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Posted: 9/2/2015 5:47:42 PM EDT
So about the house I used to live in… September 2012 a friend and I decide to room together in a house. The landlord was cool, told us we were ideal renters, and we moved in without a hitch. Our landlord kept in touch with us pretty regularly, responded quickly to any questions or requests we would have. Then we started getting notices from the bank, regarding the mortgage. We made him aware, he explained that he’s going through a modification attempt on the mortgage and to not worry about them. Then he just dropped off the face of the earth. We started communicating with his repairman primarily. Then maybe 8 months into the lease, our landlord’s wife contacts us and said that she is now acting as landlord, please make rent checks out to her. Ok, cool, not a problem. She’s equally-if-not-more easy going. No issue there. After our one-year lease was up we go month-to-month. Then in February 2014, our drain in the basement starts getting sewage backing up and flooding part of the basement. It was awful, we couldn’t wash our clothes, or basically anything that used a large amount of water. Roto-Rooter came out three times and then on the third trip they explained that the lines running out of the house had been destroyed by tree roots, and that the yard would have to be dug up to determine where the pipe failed. They were stating it would be about $12k to fix this. This was relayed to our landlady who had a breakdown on the phone. She explained that she won’t be able to afford that, and that she will let us live rent-free until we can find immediate housing. So we all move out. By a pure stroke of luck, I was able to move to the neighboring house. I lived there for a year with my now-wife. I watched as my old house slowly went through the foreclosure process, and was secured by the bank, etc. I’m very familiar with this as my previous job was dealing with all sorts of mortgage issues. I knew what was happening to it. But what I did not see was them ever repair anything related to the sewer line. The yard was never dug up. Nothing. I’ve now moved out of that neighboring house and across town. I just happened to be driving past our old house and noticed that they’ve finally cut the grass and threw a FOR SALE sign in the yard. Naturally I look up the posting, they indicate that this is a great house, great condition, etc etc. Typical real estate posting. There is no disclosure that this house has a very serious sewer issue that was not repaired. If you were in possession of this info, would you do anything about it? I’m concerned that the potential buyers will get a very sweet house for an even sweeter price and then have a living shitty nightmare on their hands once they move in. Oh, and if you’re wondering what ever happened to my old landlord and what caused his disappearance, you can thank the FBI: Man sentenced to 90 months in prison for mortgage fraud scheme |
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I guess it's possible that the seller is not aware of the sewer issues since the property was foreclosed. Is it something that would be detected by the buyers home inspector?
Beat by several minutes. I type too slow. |
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I bought a foreclosed property and you are essentially purchasing it 'as is'.
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just going off my own inspection... I dont think a inspection would catch that
house being empty the water would have to run for a while to get the sewer to back up those pipes can hold more water than most people think would probably require more than just a couple flushes and running some faucets that the inspectors do |
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or basically anything that used a large amount of water. View Quote what are the odds that an inspector is gonna run water long enough to find that out? flush toilet? water leaves and returns.... check turn on sink, shower, hose? water comes out, then goes away... check doesnt care about laundry, as it has nothing to do with health/safety I'd be a smartass and put a sign just barely on your property line advising buyers to contact (whoever came out and inspected it while you lived there) about much needed and expensive repair. |
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I honestly don't think this is something *most* home inspectors would notice. (edit - not knocking home inspectors, but the posters above that are basically giving a potential buyer a "sucks to be you if your inspector didn't find it")
However, once a potential buyer has an inspection done, and IF the inspector finds the issue, then the realtor will have to disclose this on other offers. It might cost you some money, but maybe hire an inspector to check out the house, tip him or her off about the sewage issue, then there you go. One way of getting the issue disclosed, without getting on the realtor company's bad side. |
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Our home inspector ran the dishwasher a full cycle on high during the inspection to test it. Would that be enough to cause the sewer drain to back up?
I would want to know that a house I was buying had problems, but I don't know the best way to go about relaying that information... |
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Quoted:
I bought a foreclosed property and you are essentially purchasing it 'as is'. View Quote Yep, the bank doesn't know it, doesn't want to know, hopefully an inspector catches it. That's why foreclosures go cheap, the buyer is assuming the risk, should be purchasing it discounted with plans to drop some $$$ to fix it. |
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Pretty sure the home owner has an obligation to disclose. If they lie and say they didn't know then the buyer is screwed unless they can prove the seller knew of the problem.
If you contact the sellers agent it becomes his problem too as he also can lie, but the owner may just fire him You could wait until the house is sold and knock at the door but then you may end up having to testify in court or at a deposition. |
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12k dollars, huh? Is this house hundreds of feet from the road?
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Quoted: I have never know of a single inspection that runs a drain camera out to the street. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: That is what an inspection is for. I have never know of a single inspection that runs a drain camera out to the street. Here its a requirement before sale. |
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Quoted: I honestly don't think this is something *most* home inspectors would notice. (edit - not knocking home inspectors, but the posters above that are basically giving a potential buyer a "sucks to be you if your inspector didn't find it") However, once a potential buyer has an inspection done, and IF the inspector finds the issue, then the realtor will have to disclose this on other offers. It might cost you some money, but maybe hire an inspector to check out the house, tip him or her off about the sewage issue, then there you go. One way of getting the issue disclosed, without getting on the realtor company's bad side. View Quote |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: That is what an inspection is for. I have never know of a single inspection that runs a drain camera out to the street. Here its a requirement before sale. lol sorry I couldnt resist. |
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Let the seller's agent know in writing, especially if the house is HUD and restricted to teachers, firefighters, police, or owner occupant. If it goes to investors looking to flip it ... maybe.
I bought a foreclosure with some problems. Most I knew about, however there was one unsealed joint in the plumbing. It had been leaking two or three drops each time the toilet flushed for 20 years behind a kitchen cupboard. Found it by accident. Talking with the wife of the plumber who was a friend of the former owners who came out to identify and quote a "fix the stink" job, even he misdiagnosed the actual cause. |
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On the other hand... if the buyer is going to be your neighbor, you have to live with him. Maybe it would be a friendly gesture to let him know before closing.
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Quoted:
Our home inspector ran the dishwasher a full cycle on high during the inspection to test it. Would that be enough to cause the sewer drain to back up? I would want to know that a house I was buying had problems, but I don't know the best way to go about relaying that information... View Quote No your talking 10 gallons of water maybe. |
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On the other hand... if the buyer is going to be your neighbor, you have to live with him. Maybe it would be a friendly gesture to let him know before closing. View Quote I no longer live next door, we moved back in April. As others pointed out, I don't believe an inspection will catch this. I do understand that as a foreclosure, it will be sold as-is but I feel that this is a serious issue that should be disclosed. |
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No your talking 10 gallons of water maybe. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Our home inspector ran the dishwasher a full cycle on high during the inspection to test it. Would that be enough to cause the sewer drain to back up? I would want to know that a house I was buying had problems, but I don't know the best way to go about relaying that information... No your talking 10 gallons of water maybe. Not even... a dishwasher uses way less water than doing them by hand. They are required to use 5.8 gallons or less per cycle. |
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Absolutely.
I'd be doing whatever I needed to make sure someone didn't get screwed. |
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I'm not sure there's any real wrongdoing. The previous owner wouldn't have any motivation (or need) to inform the bank that there's a problem, and when the bank repossessed the home they wouldn't have any knowledge of the problem. The current "owner" is the bank and whatever realty company they're working with wouldn't have any idea about the problem. The only one who did know was the previous owner (or his wife) who had no reason or motivation to bring it up during the foreclosure process (or at least not that I'm aware of).
I would call the realty company and let them know your concerns. That's all you can do. |
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Not your circus, not your monkeys. Foreclosures are generally bought as-is. A sewage flood in the basement should be fairly obvious during an inspection/showing.
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Absolutely. I'd be doing whatever I needed to make sure someone didn't get screwed. View Quote Huge +1 |
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Pretty sure the home owner has an obligation to disclose. If they lie and say they didn't know then the buyer is screwed unless they can prove the seller knew of the problem. If you contact the sellers agent it becomes his problem too as he also can lie, but the owner may just fire him You could wait until the house is sold and knock at the door but then you may end up having to testify in court or at a deposition. View Quote This is how it works here. If the seller knows, he must disclose. However, isn't the seller the bank, who legitimately may not know? Personally, I'd write a letter to the listing agent informing them of the problem and telling him to inform the seller. I wouldn't sleep well knowing that I let my neighbor get screwed to the tune of five figures. |
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I just read the FBI link. Dude sounds like a real piece of work.
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Mind your own business.
If it's as bad as you say, the new buyers will see the poop stains in the basement. Unless the house is a mile from a sewage line, it won't cost $12k to put a new line in. How do you know that the owner didn't get someone else to snake/clear the line? If I had a sewage problem, I'd a call a real plumber, not Roto-Rooter. |
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Lol $12,000 someone was going to make about 10,000 profit that day.
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This. When roots got in mine, the plumber ran a sensor in to the site of the clog and located it in the yard. $700 later I had a working sewer feed again. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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12k dollars, huh? Is this house hundreds of feet from the road? This. When roots got in mine, the plumber ran a sensor in to the site of the clog and located it in the yard. $700 later I had a working sewer feed again. The plumber guy that came to the house had explained that the pipe had actually collapsed, as his snake/auger was pulling out dirt with the roots. Landlord lady was informed that they are not able to determine where between the house and the street the pipe failed, so they would have to dig up the entire yard. Front of the house to the street is about 40 feet. I'm not a plumber, so take it for what you will. Now I'm wondering if that issue could have been resolved much sooner and cheaper than before, and we would not have had to abruptly move out in winter. |
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The plumber guy that came to the house had explained that the pipe had actually collapsed, as his snake/auger was pulling out dirt with the roots. Landlord lady was informed that they are not able to determine where between the house and the street the pipe failed, so they would have to dig up the entire yard. Front of the house to the street is about 40 feet. I'm not a plumber, so take it for what you will. Now I'm wondering if that issue could have been resolved much sooner and cheaper than before, and we would not have had to abruptly move out in winter. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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12k dollars, huh? Is this house hundreds of feet from the road? This. When roots got in mine, the plumber ran a sensor in to the site of the clog and located it in the yard. $700 later I had a working sewer feed again. The plumber guy that came to the house had explained that the pipe had actually collapsed, as his snake/auger was pulling out dirt with the roots. Landlord lady was informed that they are not able to determine where between the house and the street the pipe failed, so they would have to dig up the entire yard. Front of the house to the street is about 40 feet. I'm not a plumber, so take it for what you will. Now I'm wondering if that issue could have been resolved much sooner and cheaper than before, and we would not have had to abruptly move out in winter. 40 feet of pipe, that's about $100. Excavator rental $350. Plumber and helper for a day $1000. New grass $100. $12000, lol. |
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40 feet of pipe, that's about $100. Excavator rental $350. Plumber and helper for a day $1000. New grass $100. $12000, lol. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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12k dollars, huh? Is this house hundreds of feet from the road? This. When roots got in mine, the plumber ran a sensor in to the site of the clog and located it in the yard. $700 later I had a working sewer feed again. The plumber guy that came to the house had explained that the pipe had actually collapsed, as his snake/auger was pulling out dirt with the roots. Landlord lady was informed that they are not able to determine where between the house and the street the pipe failed, so they would have to dig up the entire yard. Front of the house to the street is about 40 feet. I'm not a plumber, so take it for what you will. Now I'm wondering if that issue could have been resolved much sooner and cheaper than before, and we would not have had to abruptly move out in winter. 40 feet of pipe, that's about $100. Excavator rental $350. Plumber and helper for a day $1000. New grass $100. $12000, lol. Wow. That's....well that's certainly interesting. I guess that just goes well with the whole level of fuckery we encountered living there. |
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