A buyer of my home backed out of the transaction. Am I legally required to provide the next buyer with a copy of that first physical inspection report? The inspector was not hired by me. My duty is to disclose what I know of the property. I can't be responsible for the opinions of a person hired by someone else?
Answer
Whether you provide it or not, you must disclose any information you have about the residence. Failure to do so is a basis for liability. I would not hide problems or issues. Tell them, even if you are not going to do anything to addres the issue. Then its their problem. Failure to disclose means it is still your problem.
Answer
You are in a tricky situation. You are required by law to disclose everything you know that would "materially affect the value or desirability" of the property. That obligation is in addition to and on top of the list of disclosure items in the disclosure forms and statutes. You do not have to provide surplus or proprietary information specifically. Your listing agent/broker is under the same obligation. So the exact answer to your question is "no," you do not have to provide a copy of the report itself, but you ARE obligated to disclose anything in the report that would affect the value and desirability of the property. So you have kind of a Catch-22. You can provide the report, or you can go through and disclose everything in the report that is material. But if you choose to "cherry pick" from the report what to disclose, what you leave out must only be immaterial information. But if it's information that is immaterial, why do you care if the new buyer has it - why not just give them the report? Then there is the simple dynamic that if the buyer is dissatisfied with the house and is looking to make a claim against you, the first thing their lawyer will do is claim there was something in the report that was material that you failed to disclose. Then, right, wrong or indifferent, you're in a lawsuit with one strike against you.
No comments:
Post a Comment