Buyer demanding mediation over seller disclosure

[Robert Steele]

I sold a house several months ago and now the buyer is getting on my *** about not disclosing that the property had termite damage. I owned the house for less than a year and did not live in it. I could not disclose what I did not know.

They say;
1) They have the inspection report from the previous buyer who backed out during the inspection period and it shows a photo of the termite damage inside the bathroom vanity.
2) After that the damage had been covered up.

I say;
1) I did not see this inspection report. The first buyers did not show it to me.
2) I never saw the termite damage either. My wife did but thought it was wood rot from water damage. After the first buyer fell through we did a second round of repairs and this was repaired with new plywood and painted.

The real kicker is that other termite damage in the master bedroom did come up on their inspection report because they told us so in writing and asked us to pay for a termite treatment which we refused.

Now they want to go to mediation and I don't want to waste the $500 mediation cost plus lawyer fees on what seems like a frivolous issue.

What do you guys think?

[Mike Neyman]

I think the important point here is that the buyers' own inspector found termite damage. They decided to go ahead with the purchase anyway.

Are they now claiming that they didn't know? If so, the report should prove otherwise. If buyers admit that they knew and want to be compensated after closing, I think they're out of luck.