Water Started to Leak into Basement but no evidence of leaking in Seller Disclosure

[Wenyu Zhang]

So I just purchased an older home in Michigan and need to deal with a water seepage issue. I know basement is prone to leak so I did some homework.  But still, I have made a couple of stupid mistakes here. 

1. On the day of inspection, the inspector used moisture meter to check the foundation and it reads 97%. I didn't know that actually mean the moisture was dramtically high until now, because the meter showed it as green color. It was raining pretty good on that day but no leaking found though.

2. On the day of final walk-through before closing, I noticed a small water puddle around the cove joint in the basement. If my lease wasn't about to end after two weeks, I would hold off and negotiate with seller for the issue. But my agent told me I could just seal around the foundation to stop the water which I also thought it should be a simple fix. So I closed the house.

3. After having a water proofing company do a free inspection, we found many patches around the basement foundation, which is a significant sign of leaking previously. And I was told patching is more like a bandaid and every company needs to do drain tile which costs a lot.

Now I checked the seller's disclosure again, they marked NO on the basement evidence of water. However, I found a bucket of concrete patch in the garage so I assume they must have done some patching. Some facts about the home: cinder block foundation, previous owner lived there for 10 years, but it was a HUD before that. Checked with a few neighbors with block foundation and they never had such issue. Seller already gave me $2000 concession for some other issues around the house. But a full water proofing cost about $20000.

Do you all think there are chances that I take some legal action against the seller? How do I argue they failed to disclose the water issue in the basement? Thanks everyone.

[Drew Sygit]

Many basement foundation leaks can be addressed via:
1) Proper gutters & downspout extensions
2) Regrading around the foundation, so ground slopes AWAY from foundation
3) Seal the driveway-foundation seem every year

$20k sounds like an insane amount, would gget another 2 bids to compare.

You don't seem to have enough evidence to prove the seller knew about the water issues. You would need to find a company the seller hired or get something in writing from a neighbor that witnessed the water in the basement or repairs during the seller's ownership.

Confused about your statement, "If my lease wasn't about to end after two weeks, I would hold off and negotiate with seller for the issue".
- Did you move into the house or did you rent it out?