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Arthur E.
  • Investor
  • Milwaukee, WI
23
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76
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Seller provided inaccurate information in disclosure

Arthur E.
  • Investor
  • Milwaukee, WI
Posted Jul 25 2015, 05:40

I have a duplex under contract right now in Michigan.  The seller's disclosure said that the septic system was pumped and inspected in 2014.  Because of this I didn't schedule to get the septic system inspected while the house was being inspected.  My home inspection was completed on Thursday and I requested that my agent ask for the paperwork on the septic inspection from the seller.  I just got this email from the seller's agent tonight.

My client emailed the following and included the attached:

I went back into the records and either didn’t recall the pump out correctly or lost the invoice record. Attached is the last pump out I can find, in November of 2010. There was no “report”, but the licensed septic man (Walt Steuer) did not recommend any repairs; he simply hauled the waste away.

Sorry I can’t be more informative, however we’ve not been informed by either tenant that there is an issue (e.g. slow drainage from sinks/toilets, gurgling or other symptoms of a full septic tank). Nov ’11 is within the typical 6 year pump out recommendation, however.

As I was looking through the records, I did note that the well pump was replaced with a new one in 2012.

This is frustrating to me because my deadline for addendums is on Monday.  I scrambled and was able to find a septic inspector that could get the inspection done today at the price of $350.

How should I handle this?  What if the inspection shows that the septic needs to be pumped?  Should the seller knock the cost of the inspection off the purchase price?  Did the seller break any laws by providing inaccurate info on a disclosure?

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