s=2E..
n when =3D
well he had a contractor visit, probably gave a estimate, 500 bucks or
5 grand?if its little money probably better to fix and forget.
but talk to neighbors sure! they may have similiar troubles and cheaper solutions, many times they can recommend a contractor.
one might remember water proofing contractors visits, or old owner talking of trouble.
if theres any way to show old owner was aware of trouble, repairs are free,.
I'm not saying the OP should sue, but your last sentence bothers me. People have a duty to testify. What they would "care" to do shouldn't be the OP's concern.
Except that for practical reasons he probab;y has to think about it, but the notion that people shouldn't participate in the state's criminal action or a plaintiff's civil action because they don't want to is antithetical to the concepts of "society" and "American".
While I agree with you in principle, reality has proven different. People have watch murders take place and stood by and did nothing. Most would just be forgetful.
But in reality, they may not care to, or even be morally obliged to. It often happens.
They may have been friends with the old owner; they may still have contact with the old owner. They may not have been so fond of the old owner, but have a mutual friend still in the neighborhood.
They may have only heard a comment or two about the basement water, of limited use even if they testify (they don't know, for example, all the mitigations may have been applied by the owner since then). People only know so much.
*Very* likely, the only time the old owner had water problems is when *they* had water problems as well(in the same storms)! They don't want to discuss that and put on record their *own* problems. Or, they view a certain level of problems to be ordinary ("everyone had water in the basement that September - you can't say from that storm"). After all, the OP hasn't even had actual water problems yet. He's only seen some signs of failure, behind a *wall* for goodness' sake.A lot of people (and neighborhoods) have kind of an ethos of "I look the other way, so you can look the other way", so as to avoid a big-brother atmosphere. This is both good and bad.
My bet is that the OP is a first time home buyer, all upset that his product isn't perfect, falling for what a person *selling something* told him.
He needs to think about it and get real opinions. From an engineer, and from a lawyer.
Banty
So it has flooded. Or you are dont know and everything might be fine its been 2.5 yrs.
first, thanks for all the replies and discussion--
I talked to a lawyer, and it will be cheaper for me to fix it than hiring a lawyer.. it will be around $4,500 to fix.. but I am still going to talk to my real estate agent anyway..
hopefully the real estate company, which handled the sale and the listing, and my title, will be able to help.
This house WAS inspected.. the inspector said there was a french drain.. but, did not look behind the wall..
hell.. he even said that there was a drain line out to the street, which there wasn't.. just a pipe that ended under the beginning of the driveway, which caused a sink hole.. but that's another story!
You can supoena me and I will have to testify or face contempt of court charges. However, I can promise that you are NOT going to like what I have to say.
yeah, hopefully it would only cost you one day's pay to testify for this total stranger who is now your new neighbor.
Do you really think an inspector would dig up every line and see where it terminates during an inspection?
Not to mention the cost of litigation, which, if he loses, the plantiff is going to pay the full cost of. Hallerb makes it sound like all you need is a neighbor who knows something about a water problem and bingo, it's a slam dunk case, you win. In reality, a neighbor's testimony, while very useful, is only one part of proving the case and recovering damages.
How about after spending $xxxxx on legal fees, the seller produces receipts and witnesses that say the basement water problem was fixed 6 months prior to sale, that what the neighbor is saying is based on history prior to that and that the seller was having an affair with the testifying neighbor's wife? Or maybe you win and find out that the seller moves to another state and is judgement proof.
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