Realtor problem. Water damage. Parents are ignorant. Help!

[Colargo]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on my situation?

My parents bought a home about 21 months ago now. The thing is when I first saw their house (about 20 years old perhaps), I immediately noticed that there was some fairly significant water damage to the floor and bottom of the corner of the wall next to the bathtub in the bathroom.

There was water damage up to about 6 inches up the wall where the shower head/tub faucets come out from and also a tile on the floor that looked like it was poorly replaced. I told my parents about the problem right away and told them they should bring it up with the seller and my parent's realtor ASAP to see if they could get some remedy or compensation. But my mother brushed it off and told me it wasn't a big deal. But throughout the months that I visited them, the problem got progressively worse and now the wall has deteriorated even more and the bottom of the wall has rotted and parts of it have fallen off and as well I see that water has leaked through the floors to the basement and you can see water stains on one of the drop ceiling panels downstairs. And also my parents tell me that now everytime they take a shower or bath, they see a small puddle of water on the floor near the damaged wall.

What I don't understand is how the realtor my parents hired could have possibly missed the damage in the bathroom in the first place and not advised my parents about it. Also what's more puzzling is how the home inspector that the realtor recommended to my parents also missed such an obvious problem. I looked through the inspection report and there's no mention at all of any water damage in the bathroom. This makes me think that my parent's realtor chose to not mention it or at least played it down and told the home inspector he got my parents to hire to do the same so that the deal would go through without any problems.

I know I should have complained for them sooner instead of relying on them to do something for themselves, but now that almost two years have past, is there still recourse for my parents or are they out of luck now? Has too much time passed for any action to be taken against the realtor or home inspector?

Any help would be much appreciated.

PS: I should mention that the progressively worsening damage hasn't been documented with any photos or anything. IE no photos of the wall as it got worse over the months.

[stealth]

Not really anything you can do now, unless you could prove that it was like that when you took posession (pretty much impossible).
Besides, any legal action would cost more than re-doing the bathroom...probably time since its over 20 yrs old anyways.

looked through the inspection report and there's no mention at all of any water damage in the bathroom. This makes me think that my parent's realtor chose to not mention it or at least played it down and told the home inspector he got my parents to hire to do the same so that the deal would go through without any problems.


Thats pure speculation, and most likely false. Fact is, realtors arent supposed to determine a house's fitness....thats why you get an inspection done. So if theres anyone to blame, its the inspector, but they often miss things as well (with no collusion between them and the realtor) and their contracts pretty much allow them to miss anything.

Bottom line, your parents bought the house, hired the inspector, found out about the issue and did nothing. SOL. A home is a big in vestment, if they dont take it seriously, you cant blame anyone else in the process. You are part to blame as well. You should have been present during the inspection and shown the inspector the problem if he missed it and asked him about it. A lesson for when you buy your first home. Stay on top of things!

[tempperm]

Seems like this problem bothers u more than it does ur parents. I find that as I get older, my parents are getting smarter(or maybe I m getting dumber :o) There's always a reason though it may not be apparent at first. Talk to them about the problem. Perhaps u could explain the consequences and suggest that u could arrange for some quotes to fix the problem and go from there?

[Colargo]

Not really anything you can do now, unless you could prove that it was like that when you took posession (pretty much impossible).
Besides, any legal action would cost more than re-doing the bathroom...probably time since its over 20 yrs old anyways.


Thats pure speculation, and most likely false. Fact is, realtors arent supposed to determine a house's fitness....thats why you get an inspection done. So if theres anyone to blame, its the inspector, but they often miss things as well (with no collusion between them and the realtor) and their contracts pretty much allow them to miss anything.

Bottom line, your parents bought the house, hired the inspector, found out about the issue and did nothing. SOL. A home is a big in vestment, if they dont take it seriously, you cant blame anyone else in the process. You are part to blame as well. You should have been present during the inspection and shown the inspector the problem if he missed it and asked him about it. A lesson for when you buy your first home. Stay on top of things!

Buying this new house was mostly my mom's idea. My dad didn't really want to move as he was comfortable at the previous house. Myself I was mostly busy with work and since I don't live with them, I didn't stay on top of things. Also my mom didn't ask me for advice anyways since she really wanted to move and thought I might object because I'm pretty attached to the old house and also the fact that I'm very detail oriented and would shoot down any house she liked if it wasn't up to standard.

On both counts she was correct though. :cheesygri I lived most my life in our previous house so I was emotionally attached to it and also I do have a pretty sharp eye for details and if she had brought me along to view her current house, I would have did everything I could to try and prevent her from buying UNLESS the seller was willing to drop the price more. So if she had taken me with her to the inspection, for sure I would have complicated things as I would have told her to either walk away or get compensation to fix the problems that I saw.


Anyways going back to the problem. As I said the water damage in the bathroom is quite visible and there's no way anyone could've missed it. My mom may have saw it, but thought it was minor and didn't think much of it, but my question is since my mom is a client of the realtor she hired, shouldn't he have informed my mother of the potential for water damage below the surface where its not visible? I mean isn't it part of his duty of care to take care of his clients and make sure they don't get screwed?

And also it was HE who recommended the home inspector to my mother which is why I think he told the inspector to make sure to report nothing major so that the deal would go through. So isn't that unethical? Like isn't the realtor suppose to either tell you to find your own home inspector so that he remains impartial? Or if asked for help, to give you a list of several inspectors to choose from instead of telling my mother 'Hey I know a home inspector, let me call him for you...' and potentially receive some money under the table for the referral? This is what I think really happened since that inspector never either verbally or on paper ever mentioned any water damage in the bathroom or even the potential of any water problems despite clear visible proof of water damage on the wall and floor. And if you call yourself a 'home inspector' its impossible to miss, since even a regular joe like me saw it almost immediately when I walked into the bathroom. In fact the inspector was pretty sh$tty overall as there was plenty of work that needed to be done in the basement and the deck out in the backyard wasn't done properly and he mentioned none of these things either.



Seems like this problem bothers u more than it does ur parents. I find that as I get older, my parents are getting smarter(or maybe I m getting dumber :o) There's always a reason though it may not be apparent at first. Talk to them about the problem. Perhaps u could explain the consequences and suggest that u could arrange for some quotes to fix the problem and go from there?



Here's the thing. The house she bought isn't horrible and it was previously used as a rental home (both upstairs and basement) until the seller decide to sell and renovated just enough that it would be passable to some people. For example the main floor was redone with beautiful hardwood floors and the walls were newly painted and the floorplan was a nice open concept, BUT the kitchen and bathroom were completely rundown and untouched and the basement needs alot of work as well.

Now for many people who would consider buying this house, they would've immediately thought to remodel that kitchen and bathroom and either try and get the seller to lower the price some to help with that remodel, or if not then to pay for it themselves and do it right away. With my parents though, they are CHEAP AS HELL when it comes to fixing their own home. Unless something is completely un-useable and unpatchable, they won't overhaul it. So with the bathroom, while you or I would probably gut it and build a new one, with my parents if this leak didn't exist, they would use that bathroom for another 10-20 years without a second thought. Even now when I tell them they should gut the bathroom and redo it, all they want to do is stop the leak and that's it. Screw any major work.

So basically I'm just wondering if they can still sue or something and try and get some compensation so that even if they chose not to remodel anything to at least get some money back into their bank account.

[Frameboy]

They had all kinds of protection when buying the place...

1) Realtor - Who maybe DID tell them, and they didn't care (as they don't appear to now)
2) Lawyer - Probably made the deal subject to home inspection.
3) Home Inspector - Maybe needed a Holmes Inspection? ;)
4) Title Insurance - If they ALL missed it, maybe Title Insurance could help.

But 21 months has passed... Time to call a contractor, gut the room, clean out the mold and start over.

[Anonymouse]

I was out of town and couldn't accompany our home inspector. He missed the water stains on the ceiling below the bathroom. When I opened up the wall some months after moving in, I found that the pipes were not fastened to any kind of blocking, and the joints had started leaking (surprise, surprise).

Next time, I will not take the home inspector the realtor recommends, since the realtor's interest is to sell the house to me regardless of imperfections and it's almost certain that the realtor gets a kickback from the inspector.

Also, I will ignore any claims the realtor makes about how the builder of the house he's trying to sell me is the "best in the neighbourhood," "has a great name" etc. Because I fell for the patter, and now I'm worried about what other corners were cut when my house got built.

[TrevorK]

but my question is since my mom is a client of the realtor she hired, shouldn't he have informed my mother of the potential for water damage below the surface where its not visible? I mean isn't it part of his duty of care to take care of his clients and make sure they don't get screwed?

A realtor is not trained in the business of home inspections and has absolutely no right to tell people what is right or wrong with the house because they have no credentials to back it up. That is why your parents hire a home inspector.

When you purchase a drill at Canadian Tire, do you expect the cashier to know all the features of it, manufacturers recall, and provide an expert opinion on the matter? Of course not.


And also it was HE who recommended the home inspector to my mother which is why I think he told the inspector to make sure to report nothing major so that the deal would go through. So isn't that unethical?

Unless he somehow forced your parents to go through this inspector, he was providing a helpful recommendation on an industry professional.



And if you call yourself a 'home inspector' its impossible to miss, since even a regular joe like me saw it almost immediately when I walked into the bathroom.

Well, it's obviously very possible to miss since this home inspector did. Home inspectors aren't regulated, and as such, you will always find bad ones in the bunch. Your parents should know this, and should have done their research on the home inspector considering the house is their single biggest purchase.



So basically I'm just wondering if they can still sue or something and try and get some compensation so that even if they chose not to remodel anything to at least get some money back into their bank account.

Home inspectors provide an opinion, this one your parents selected provided his. Realtors have no say in the matter, because they are not home inspectors. The client did not hide any of the damage, as you say it was completely visible.

There is no one to sue.

Your parents will have to suck it up and accept this lesson in life.

[tempperm]

So basically I'm just wondering if they can still sue or something and try and get some compensation so that even if they chose not to remodel anything to at least get some money back into their bank account.

Even if there was some sort of process to apply for compensation, would u even be able to prove the water damage occurred prior to possession of the home?



Even now when I tell them they should gut the bathroom and redo it, all they want to do is stop the leak and that's it. Screw any major work..

If u feel this is a major problem then u need to convince ur parents of this. Offer to get quotes to stop the leak. If after the quotes come thru and ur parents refuse to spend the money then u need to be more convincing or u need to just let this go. My father has always been about function over form - I can't stand it but I understand.

[jed]

The one thing you need to be able to do is Prove any misconduct or that someone knowingly did something, not in accordance with the contract. Otherwise...

[mcplar]

21 months.... there HAS to be some sort of statue of limitations regarding things like this.

You parents bought the house as-is. The home inspector usually makes you sign a release so you can't come after them in court for something missed. Who knows the previous owners could have had something up against the wall when the inspector came through... The inspector can NOT move anything to get a better look, unless they suspect or see signs of damage. So if they covered it up with a garbage can or something, and the surrounding wall looked OK, the inspector did his job!

You're pretty much SOL unfortunately.

[backbones]

When we bought our present home, we used my wife's aunt as the agent. My wife had found the house initially and wanted to see it, so she called Aunt Christine.

To both my wife and my astonishment, Aunt Christine reneged on the previously agreed-upon terms of how much her commission would be. >:(

Our mistake for thinking that a verbal agreement would suffice.

Bottom line, not all realtors are there to protect your interests.

[TTony]

lots of mold now behind the tiles , it is time for new bathroom lets gut the old one and do it all over again ,cost is $ 6-15 grand, maybe Realtor pays some of it

[LondonTown]

lots of mold now behind the tiles , it is time for new bathroom lets gut the old one and do it all over again ,cost is $ 6-15 grand, maybe Realtor pays some of it

Realtor doesn't pay some of it, as has been stated above.

[stealth]

Realtor doesn't pay some of it, as has been stated above.

Agreed. Buyers knew about it, continued with sale. Not the sellers problem b/c they didnt hide anything. Regardless of what the realtor, inspector etc did or didnt do (and they are all covered in various clauses in their contracts) or whatever conspiracy theories the OP may have about them, the buyers were aware of the problem and proceeded with the purchase. End of story.

[CSK'sMom]

I find it absolutely astounding that the thought that someone else may be responsible for monetary "damages" even entered anyone's mind after 21 months. Where the hell is the personal responsibility here? They knew there was a leak and did absolutely nothing about it, that is mind boggling to me, let alone incredibly irresponsible... Maybe it's time to think about seling and rent where someone else is responsible for day to day repairs and upkeep.

[woof]

You have no recourse whatsoever. Too much time has passed and the inspection report makes it impossible to go after the previous owners or the agent. And frankly your parents were aware of the problem and ignored it at the time so there is no recourse whatsoever. Even if there was, it is very clear that your parents are not the types who would pursue it.

The real estate agent is soley responsible for ensuring that the buyers have every opportunity to thoroughly examine the house. They are not house inspectors. They will usually try to protect themselves by encouraging you to get a home inspection done. I have seen cases where mention of certain potential major defects are mentioned in the offer to buy (aluminum wiring, zonolite (asbestos) insulation), added by the agent to ensure the buyers don't try to claim ignorance later on.

In most provinces any idiot who's ever put nails into a 2x4 can set up business as a home inspector. Never just jump at the person recommended by the real estate agent - they are probably getting a referral kickback. Shop around and in particular ask to see examples of the work that the inspector has done on other houses so that you can get an idea of the thoroughness and the person's knowledge.

Back to where I started. You have no recourse whatsoever. Until your parents wake up and get the bathroom renovated there is nothing further you can do. MYOB and move on.