White Lake, MI · Member since 2017 · 82 posts · 57 votes
I was just curious if a landlord is legally suppose to inform potential hazards that are discovered in an inspection report? Last year I had a property under contract, during the inspection severe termite damage was found. Most of the floor joists were rotted thru and falling apart. I backed out of the deal. The owner put the house back on the market and I assume they didn’t disclose it. The house never sold. Tonight I noticed that same house for rent by same owner. I am just concerned, because I feel it’s not safe for anyone to occupy the home and not sure if I can or should do anything about it. I don’t want to cause trouble for anyone but same time don’t want to see anyone get hurt.
@Jeff G. I had an inspection contingency and backed out because it was a bad deal. I had two contractors tell me to fix the house was over 100K and not worth it. One told me to run and they both said the house should be torn down. It was a nice house on the inside, but there was a small crawl space outside we didn’t notice until the inspector found it. I assumed it was on a slab. Underneath the home was a whole different story.
its unlikely the house will fall down or someone through the floor. Not that it doesn’t need repair, but most likely the tenants will realize it before it truly becomes a true safety hazard.
Plus, you have no idea if a few new supports were added to temporarily fix it.
@Mike McCarthy I’m hoping they fixed it, I was concerned because they had tenants in it when we had it under contract. I moved on and bought a different property over there. Just seen the listing and was curious if this was something they needed to disclose or fix if it was brought to their attention. I don’t have any ill will towards the owner, or would cause any trouble for anyone.
Most older properties are going to have some issues. You probably did the right thing by backing out.
The price you negotiated is what the contract says. Once the inspection is over, you either request repairs be made or for the price to be adjusted. Sellers, more often than not, can take a modest reduction. If it is a hot market, they may not.
In my market, there are strict disclosure laws for residential property, but only applying to 5 units and under. So large apartment buildings do not require disclosures.
@Brian Ploszay Issues? And what do you consider NEWER construction? Is only less than 2 years old new enough? Because there's one huge national homebuilder that would rather face lawsuits than build houses properly. Hundreds of lawsuits in Florida, California, Texas, etc even after signing class actions agreements to fix homeowners' problems. Their business model is to cut corners and wait for the lawsuits because most people will end up walking away
@Nicholas Hamblen There are many properties owned by landlords who don't care and many tenants who don't care. Just remember the name of that **** landlord and never do business with him again.