Todd Wiese Home Selling Team

Review: We bought a house a month ago and we had an inspection done and no one turned on the water. We were in there 2 days and started getting sewer backup everywhere. We had a plumber come out and we have a broken pipe in our yard and it is going to cost thousands to fix and he said him and the sellers did nothing wrong. I have a 2 month old baby and this is not right we just bought a house and we can't live in it because we have sewage backup everywhere. We just want the pipe fixed so we can live there. The problem was never disclosed to us or we wouldn't have bought this house.Desired Settlement: We just want the pipe fixed and our house brought up to code. It is not livable the way it is. We need help with this we put all our money in buying this house and we have no money to fix it and we shouldn't have this problem with a newly purchased house that they said was nothing wrong.

Business

Response:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint as stated below. It is of utmost concern that our company maintain a record of excellent service and integrity; we strive to exceed expectations rather than meet them. In every situation, we have a specific duty to report what we know of a property’s condition and the law requires the same of the sellers. In this situation, we have to defend that is exactly what occurred. To that end, I have attached an email response our attorney provided to the complainant’s mother, who initiated the contact with our office regarding the complaint. As you can see, it was submitted promptly – a week before the reported date of the complaint to Revdex.com.

What needs to be understood in this situation is that this home was sold as part of an estate settlement. The owners were deceased and the heirs charged with the sale of the home. It was clear from the condition report that they made no representations of the condition of the home because they had not lived in the home for many years, if ever. Neither sibling currently lives in this state. Buyer was provided a copy of the report and signed it in acceptance. They had the right to inspect the property and did so. It was not requested of the seller or our office to turn on the water prior to the inspection nor as a follow up to the inspection. The home had undergone a well upgrade to current codes and the water service valve had apparently been closed in the process. (The home was vacant throughout the term of our listing and in winter months it is not uncommon to use this precautionary measure against freezing pipes. Inspection date was 3/24/13.)

It should also be noted that the inspector did flag several necessary repairs which included plumbing items, which the buyers requested sellers to correct prior to closing and which the seller had a certified plumber come in to perform. Prior to the final walk-thru, we were contacted by the agent working with the buyer to have the water turned on, which was done. The buyer had every opportunity to research and inspect items of concern; the nature of the defect they describe could not have been determined by our office or anyone who wasn’t living in the home or using the utilities. Even the buyer suggests it was 2 days after occupancy before they noticed a problem – a 3 hour home inspection was unlikely to have uncovered it. It’s possible the former occupants may not have experienced any of what the buyers describe here as it was well over a year since it was vacated and could have been due to a deterioration over time. They are not able to speak for their knowledge of such defect.

As unfortunate as it is for the buyers to be experiencing this hardship, it is a fact of home ownership that repairs and upgrades can be unexpected.

Respectively submitted,

Todd Wiese Homeselling Team