Can I sue the sellers of our house. Its been 2 yrs since we purchased
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Can I sue the sellers of our house. Its been 2 yrs since we purchased
We have found since living in the house some things that were not disclosed to us before purchasing. It wasn’t until recently I heard that we could potentially sue for not have been given this information. We found there is a mold issue in the house. The back room an add on I believe is very damp to the point water pools on the floor and the property has terrible drainage problems. We thought we were stuck having to figure out how to pay to remedy these issues until I heard since they provided a PCDS we may be able to get them to pay to remedy these issues. Please advise
Asked on January 22, 2018 under Real Estate Law, New York
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the seller for fraud. Fraud is the intentional misrepresentation or nondisclosure of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity and with the intent to induce your reliance upon which you justifiably relied to your detriment.
In other words, you would not have bought the house had you known of the mold / drainage problems.
Damages (monetary compensation you are seeking) in a lawsuit for fraud against the seller would be either the benefit of the bargain or your out of pocket loss.
Benefit of the bargain means that a defrauded purchaser may recover the difference between the real and represented value of the property purchased regardless of the fact that the actual loss suffered might have been less.
Out of pocket determination of damages for fraudulent misrepresentation permits recovery of the difference between the price paid and the actual value of the property acquired.
It is NOT too late to sue the seller for fraud because NY has a six year statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit for fraud.
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