Asbestos tile in basement

This is of course the major potential pitfall. Doing stuff incorrectly, and/or conveniently not mentioning it at the time of sale, could have serious financial consequences down the road - even well after the house is sold. Chalk it up to living in our age.

R
Reply to
RicodJour
Loading thread data ...

He got his email wrong though, its snipped-for-privacy@faabatement.com

Reply to
clare

Right up front, IANAL. While most of us on here know MOST 9x9 tiles contain asbestos tiles, absent a lab test of the tiles in a particular basement, do we KNOW those tiles are asbestos-laden? Anybody know what the case law is? If homeowner isn't SURE, does he have plausible deniability and legal protection?

Reply to
aemeijers

Yes. While everyone is familiar with the adage, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse," there is a complementary rule, "Ignorance of the facts IS an excuse."

Reply to
HeyBub

But judge, I was SURE they were asphault tiles.

Reply to
clare

That's a good point. I'm not even sure it's true that most tiles that are still installed today contain asbestos. It was widely used long ago, but that use discontinued decades ago and presumably a lot of them have been replaced. And if you don't know yours have it, then I would think in many cases you could honestly answer a real estate disclosure without raising any concerns.

Which is why it's a good idea to take a look at the specific disclosure laws for the state in question. Some states like NJ, have a form with a list of specific questions that have to be answered. Ours is particulalry stupid and a high school student could design a better one. Among the stupid questions: Has there ever been repairs made to the roof? If so, then it wants an explanation. WTF? A more reasonable question might be "Do you know of any leaks and have any repairs been made to the roof in the last two years? I guess we need a maintenance log, like for an aircraft now for our homes.

"Yes, I replaced one missing shingle after the northeaster of 92."

Reply to
trader4

Not only is the question goofey, but (if you quoted it correctly) is ghastly grammar.

It should read: "HAVE there ever been..."

Lawrence J. Peter once said: "I have been studying government, man and boy, for over forty years. I have yet to discover whether we are being led by well-meaning fools, or by really intelligent people who are just putting us on."

Reply to
HeyBub

We had to fill out a similar form when we sold our house in VT. "Yes, the roof was replaced in ...". No problem. Look at it as protection. If you list it there they can't come back later and say there was a leak. "...well, yeah!"

Reply to
krw

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.