Can I sue the house seller for providing false information about the roof’s age in Georgia?
#homebuyer #roofreplacement #sellersdisclosure #housepurchase #roofinspection
– Bought house in February 2023
– Sellers disclosure stated roof was 3 years old
– Roof inspection revealed it is actually over 10 years old
– Musty smell from ceiling
– Water damage in attic
– Evidence of long-term issues like rust and missing shingles
– New roof discount from home insurance
– Potential fraud and breach of contract
– Trying to determine legal grounds for lawsuit
– Seeking advice on dealing with seller’s dishonesty
Can I take legal action against the seller for misrepresenting the roof’s age and causing me financial and structural issues?
While I understand the frustration you’re feeling, you’re going to need more than one single roofer telling you that the previous work was 10 years old if you want to be successful in a lawsuit. You still have no idea if the selling party lied or if their roofer lied to them, or if everyone made several mistakes.
You should start by asking the realtor you used to purchase this place if they have any information about the new roof credit this place came with.
Was anything in writing like perhaps within the sellers disclosure or was it all verbal? Also did you have a home inspection done?
Go to the county and look for building permits on the roof ,that should give you an answer. Did she specifically say she did the roof ?or just knows the age ?she might not have done it but knows the age …just shooting around ideas
You should be able to go to your local governments permits website and see what permits have been pulled for that property. It’s likely a permit would have had to be pulled for a roof replacement and it will be there.
I’d ask your homeowners insurance next time you talk to them and a local property attorney
One roofer saying that the roof is “over 10 years old” is not even close to enough proof to proceed here. Why didn’t this come up in your inspection when you bought the house? For all you know, this roofer is just trying to get some work. I would get another opinion and also see what the permit records say. You’re going to need WAY more concrete proof here to try to go after the seller, and even then it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Can you? Sure, if it’s physically documented they said 3 years. Proof is the tough thing here.
First, remember something about contractors/roofers. They get paid for doing new roofs. These guys lie all the time about the age they believe your roof is. So, your roofer might be the one lying here and just the opinion of a single roofer is not enough, and be actually just trying to close a sale here by saying things are worse than they are.
You need to check permitting, if it was done, and also check with additional roofing companies. People coming out to do “free” estimates are just sales people. You should he going to a roofing company and paying their nominal fee to do a proper roof inspection with proper tooling to estimate age of roof. They will typically look up the permit records as well.
Note, just because no permit exists doesn’t mean there isn’t a new roof. People do unpermitted work on homes all the time.
There is also the possibility where a new roof was installed, but the roofing company that did it just did a piss-poor job so the roof has issues, so the previous owner would be truthful about the 3 year, whilst at the same time the roofer saying your roof is jacked might also be truthful. Maybe the previous roofer the former owner used 3 years back just sucked that bad.
All I am saying is that all of those scenarios negate the ability to sue. So again, I it possible? Of course. Just know that you need to prove that they lied.
You could look on google maps or other sources to see if the roof visibly changed too
Did you have a home inspection? If so, they should have been able to ID the issues before closing.
Google earth allows you to look at historical images if you click the date in the bottom left corner. Try and spot a before and after to narrow down when it happened.
Did you get a home inspection done? The Inspector should have been the one to tell you all the faults with the house.
They should have pulled a permit. Check if your your local municipality issued one. My county in Illinois requires one.
Edited to include location.
This question gets asked a lot. Don’t people do inspections?
My ex husband and I used to own a re/max. We were sued bc there was a hundred year rain and the buyer’s roof leaked. Everybody’s roof leaked, even my own. But she hired a lawyer whose firm had sued McDonald’s for putting meat products in the French fries. A big time lawyer.
He advised her not to repair the roof leak, so the damage got worse and worse. No one wanted a lawsuit, so the realtors and inspector all agreed to split the cost of repairing the leak which at that time was less than $1000. She refused.
Fast forward to the trial where in opening arguments they claimed that my husband and the seller together painted over previous water damage on the celing and that the seller lied on the seller’s disclosure claiming no previous leaks.
The idea that my husband would go over and do that is beyond hilarious, but you’d have to know him. They just made it up and told that to the jury like it was a fact (yes, there was a jury). After refusing to do what started out as a $300 repair, they were now claiming the house was a tear down and suing for two million.
It was all based on the seller supposedly lying on the disclosure about a supposed previous leak and my ex supposedly knowing about it. There was no proof, no witnesses, no evidence, but they showed the jury a half day of rat and maggot photos. The trial took two weeks.
The lawyer was very convincing, but it all turned on my ex having remembered a phone call and being able to prove the call had been made. If he hadn’t been able to prove he was being truthful about something they claimed he was lying about, they might have won. And all of it based on he said/she said.
Your damages are comparably minimal, I assume, which means you can’t get the fancy lawyer, but it seems to me if you can prove they lied about the age of the roof, you should be able to get something punitive. People are saying she can say she didn’t remember, but it’s not plausible anyone would think it was 3 years when it was actually 10. Get a lawyer and be active in helping with the case. Good luck to you.
Did you have a home inspection? Was the home inspector a friend of your realtor? They should have caught the foundation issue and likely given the age of the roof.
Buyer beware!!!!!!
Search for the permit. No guarantee that one was pulled or needed, but it’s a starting point.
Many jurisdictions do not require roof permits or inspections. Even if you have a roofer pull a shingle and get a date code, how do you know the shingles were put on that year. Proof is hard. Move on, put on a new roof and enjoy it
Oh honey, almost every roofer is going to tell you that you need a new roof. They dont make any money by showing up, saying “looks good” and leaving.
10 years isnt even that old for a roof.