Illegal duplex help

[Diego Saavedra]

Hello friends.

New investor.

Bought a property in 2022 that was advertised as a duplex. There was a tenant living on one side and the other was vacant.

After living and remodeling the vacant side, I moved into the tenant occupied side (he moved out) to start the remodel process there.

After looking into permits to upgrade the electrical system, I ran across information about the property that revealed it to be a single family home.

The zoning for the property does not allow for multi families.

Am I able to sue the seller or the seller’s agent for misleading information/false advertising?

Any help is appreciated 🙏🏽

In DeKalb county.

[Richard Elvin]

Quote from @Diego Saavedra:

Quote from @John Boyzo:

Quote from @Diego Saavedra:

Quote from @John Boyzo:

Hi Diego, hate to hear that this happened to you. Unfortunately, the broker cannot be sued as they are relying on the seller to be honest and upfront with them. Sellers are required to disclose any hidden defects, such as a septic problem, but do not have to disclose anything that can be discovered in a normal inspection. Was it being marketed as a duplex? Did you do an inspection?

 Hey John, thank you for responding.

Yes, the property was marketed as a duplex. Being my first property, I didn’t know to look into zoning and such.

I did have an inspection done, the inspection report even says the property is a duplex.

It wasn’t until I looked into getting an electrical permit that I found out the property wasn’t permitted as a duplex.

The fact that the appraiser didn’t catch the property’s status is what has me appalled.

That’s the part I’m wondering if I should sue…

 In my experience, it comes down to how the property was originally deeded. Someone else mentioned that it may be grandfathered in as a duplex. That's kind of what I meant. The closing attorney who cleared the title should have seen how the property was deeded through title chain. I would reach out to them and see what they say. If it was originally deeded as a duplex, then hopefully you can get a variance. It's gonna be extremely difficult to sue someone over this. 

Just saw the deed. It was for single family FHA... they got me. Oh well, I'll just finish this one up and move on to the next one *shrugs*

 I'm sorry that happened to you! Sounds like you have a good plan though. Experience can be a hard teacher.

Congrats on getting started, you're doing a 100% better than most already! 

Best to you!