Fannie Mae Nightmare

[Linda Mason]

Need advice. Purchased home from Fannie Mae that was stickered WINTERIZED on every piece of plumbing.  After closing a plumber told me all the lines were busted.  The walls had to be ripped out throughout hse and pipes fixed redrywall etc and major support beam replaced.  Day of inspection Fannie Mae's agent said water would be on but wasn't.  Inspector told no worries hse is WINTERIZED.  Overwheming.  Fannie Mae just keeps saying I bought As Is. I say yes WINTERIZED. Advertised WINTERIZED USA Mortgage Appraiser stated NO Major defects and appraised at sales price. Any advice pls.  

[Greg H.]

Any quality inspector should have known that "winterized" only applies to the drain lines as antifreeze is added to them. A pressure test using a air compressor could have detected the broken pipes. Since they turned out to be inside the wall it might have been tougher to locate the exact break but at least you would have known there was an issue

My best advise is to always allow for the possibility of these issues in your analysis