It seems I'm not a very nice person

[Stevegoodey]

A couple of months back I had a letter arrive from a person who bought one of my renovated properties.

She claimed the property had leaked from the day she bought it and that I should pay to have the roof replaced.

Now I consider myself a fair sort of bloke and I will mostly listen to any old drivel to a point but this got me a bit miffed.
For one thing I had sold the property 18 months beforhand, the buyer had 5 days to do her Due diligence, she had decided not to get a LIM report or a building inspection.
Also I did not know that it leaked if I had known I would have fixed it.

So I had my Lawyer write to the lady stating all these issues and saying sorry but I don't see how at this point I should be liable for a new roof.

I then figured it was over but nooooooo.

Today I got a letter in the mail from the district court.

Yup she is suing me.

The vendor claims that I did know about the leak (I didn't)

She claims I covered the stains up with some sneaky painting (I painted every internal surface of the entire house)

She claims I put in a cheap kitchen (Guilty, but probably didn't make the roof leak)

She claims the previous owner who I bought off gave me a good price because she knew it leaked and could not afford to fix it (Nothing to do with the fact that there was 4 people living in a 2 bedroom house).

All in all it paints a picture of me being a rather nasty piece of work.

I have thought long and hard and decided that I will not be changing my name to Satan and I'm not going to start selling plots of land on mars.
I don't feel that I am liable for this issue for even one day after settlement let alone 2 years after the vendor has moved in to the property.

I'd be very interested in other people's opinions so please drop me a line with your view.

Cheers

Steve

[sarahd]

Isn't that the risk she took when she decided NOT to be a building inspection? Don't see how you're liable.

[Niall]

Hi Steve,

This is a good look at the other side of recent threads about getting out of contracts.

The buyer went unconditional and purchased the property. Surely thats the end of the story.

You didnt know of any leaky roof, so thats a non starter.

Bought a house, neither vendor or purchaser know anything about supposedly leaky roof. End of story.

If this had been a major problem immediatly as she indicated in her letter to you it would be sensible to bring up the subject immediatly, not 18 months later.

Another thing. Capital growth would be about $100k in the last 2 years in Lwr Hutt for a decent 2 bed so should be plenty of equity to fix her own roof.

All the Best,

Niall

[xris]

From what you have said it does not appear she has a case.

You may be satan but that does not matter unless...

...you are deemed to be a RE agent. But even then she will probably not have a case if you genuinely did not know about the leak, did not unfairly persuade her to forego a builders report and LIM.

I'd stand my ground if I were you, devil or saint.

xris

[spaceman]

Shame on you

Even if you knew about the leaky roof and didn't volunteer the information, I would still say it's her stiff cheese.

The only way I could see you being liable is if you were asked directly about the leaky roof and you knew about it and lied to her about it saying it wasn't a problem.....as you clearly state this isn't the case it becomes a SEP (Somebody Else's Problem ..if you arent a hitchhickers guide to the universe fan)

That being said you of course should hang your head in shame as you are a flithy money hungry property investor with pots of cash and it's obviously all your fault ....you'll be the first against the wall come the revolution matey.

Cheers
Spaceman

[Gerrard]

Offer to give her purchase price back, the fix the problem and sell it again at today's value

[Avalon]

And we came to New Zealand thinking to escape the "Oh - its Thursday - I think its time to find something I can sue someone over" way of life.

Surely if a buyer forgoes a building report, its not the vendors fault? Would you as an investor be able to go to a vendor you bought a property off and claim for things you didnt spot?

I dont suppose this person happens to know you are a greedy Property Investor do they ?????

Im sorry this is happening to you but for the record - you are a top bloke, and not the spawn of satan

[No Regrets]

Class!

Offer to give her purchase price back, the fix the problem and sell it again at today's value

Nice one, I would do that!

[f1speedman]

Stick to your guns

Stick to your guns on this one Steve.

I'd get your lawyer to write back to her stating that you will "vigourously defend yourself" against any action. She's just grandstanding.

Hopefully her lawyer will see the stupidity in her case and ask her to also weigh up the costs (and time) of taking legal action and her chances of success being fairly close to zero.

Maybe common sense will prevail.

Failing that - yes buy it back and sell it again,,, but don't put Satan and/or nominee on the S&P. Apart from some GST issues it wont be a good look!!

Cheers

Dave

[SuperDad]

Steve,

It might be true that you're not a very nice person, but not because of this roof

Jeez, some people. Surely she doesn't have a show of proving you liable?

Did you have a building report done on the property before you purchased it? If not, are you sure you didn't notice that there might be a problem? (Something like a leaking roof tens to stick out like the proverbial canine's testes - water marks on the ceiling or, worse, holes in the ceiling.)

Paul.

[xris]

Just as when you sell privately you have very little comeback on anyone if you do it wrong, the same goes in reverse, which seems to be what has happened here. Not a nice position for Steve to be in at the moment though. It probably is a lot of hot air and trying her luck on her part, and is likely to amount to nothing, but who knows what will happen.

Sorry, this isn't much help.

xris

[whitt]

She is probably trying to Bluff or scare you into subsidising her new roof.
If you are confident you are clean ( see others comments above) then raise her with a letter from your lawyer and call her cards. Offer to buy house back ( good faith) at original price if you think you can sell for more. Do not anywhere admit liability or guilt.

Watch her cards fold as she backs down fast, that is unless she has deep pockets/ lots of money and is willing to give it all away to her Lawyer to buy them a new car/ house/ holiday. Only winner will be the Lawyers.

[Keys]

Also I did not know that it leaked if I had known I would have fixed it.

So I had my Lawyer write to the lady stating all these issues and saying sorry but I don't see how at this point I should be liable for a new roof.

I then figured it was over but nooooooo.

Today I got a letter in the mail from the district court.

Yup she is suing me.

The vendor claims that I did know about the leak (I didn't)


Steve

Looks to me like she has libled you.

Sue her.

[Stevegoodey]

Another thing. Capital growth would be about $100k in the last 2 years in Lwr Hutt for a decent 2 bed so should be plenty of equity to fix her own roof.

All the Best,

Niall

Hmm, great minds....it was my first thought that I would give her her money back.

Steve

[Stevegoodey]

The only way I could see you being liable is if you were asked directly about the leaky roof and you knew about it and lied to her about it saying it wasn't a problem.....as you clearly state this isn't the case it becomes a SEP (Somebody Else's Problem ..if you arent a hitchhickers guide to the universe fan)
Cheers
Spaceman

I really didn't know about it, so I didn't say anything about watertightness to the listing agent who in turn said nothing to the selling agent.

Steve