Aloha Everyone,
I’m a Newbie here and what awesome site to discover. The reason I’m here is because of the mess my wife and I have gotten ourselves into. A few months ago I returned from Gulf (Military) and we started preparing for my retirement 2 years away.
In December 05 we took a trip back to IL. to do some house hunting and came up empty until my wife notice a house online that was just put back on the market because the buyers backed out. This was (what we thought at the time) the home of our dreams, everything we were looking for in a home, our first big purchase etc…
We contacted our agent, made the arrangements to view the home in the dead of winter and did so the following day. we agreed that this was the home we wanted and decided to go with it but we would be doing so from Hawaii. we got an attorney to do the signing while we were away and everything was going well until we got the home inspection report!!! there were allot of discrepancies with the home but allot of them were minor compared to some such as Mold and Radon! we ask our attorney to pass on to the sellers attorney that the Mold noted on the home inspection report would have to be tested and if found positive, to be removed and for a Radon inspection contractor to be allowed to test the home.
The seller agreed but was hesitant to our request and went as far as to tamper with the radon test equipment.
Well, the house was found to have mold in several locations with the largest amount being found in the basement. we asked the seller to get it fixed and he had only repaired the area on the main floor because the company that came out to test it also did the repair. and the basement was never brought up again. mine you that when we came to look at the home and likewise with the home inspector, it was full of furniture so allot of discreps were hidden. but we assumed the home inspector would catch them.
We closed in Feb because the seller was in a hurry (Big Mistake). Due to military commitments I couldn’t get my family to the home until May so the home would be vacant for the next couple of months but the wifes family would go to the home every other day to get mail etc. we were unaware of what we was to learn about this home and why it was being sold in the winter but not until Apr, after the winter thaw and heavy rains. Our family went to the house to turn off the heater in the basement only to discover it was flooded. after further inspection they notice that it was coming from the wall of the basement near the 2 sump pumps. My wife contacted our attorney to explain what was happening so our attorney contacted the sellers attorney, he contacted the seller, seller offered us $400 for the repair. we declined because we needed to know what was happening.
We had to get it fixed before we wouldn’t have a basement left so we contacted a contractor that specialized in this sort of repair and $700 later, he sealed the leak. we contacted a another contractor to locate the problem and he found that our home had a high water table and underground stream that was undermining the basement and found that attempted repairs had been made and someone had gone through allot of trouble in the past to hide what has been an ongoing disaster. This basement had flooded several times in the past to where it left stains on the walls cracked floortile, rusted dropped ceiling tracks, rusted metal everywhere, swollen doors, replaced heating and cooling systems. and now mold coming up on the newly painted walls.(forgot to mention that the paintjob the seller did was from the floor up about 2 feet high along to whole basement walls so I have 2 tone walls of the same color just that the new and old are quite visible.
I had to take leave and get up there to see for myself exactly what was happening to our home. to my surprise, this Doctor that sold us the home had sold us his problems and didn’t disclose that the home had problems with leaking and flooding. also he was the second owner that bought the problems from the first owner that seemingly everyone in the neighborhood also knew about these issues.
We bought this home with problems we now have to disclose to ayone if and when we decide to sell. there are some very dishonest people out there and one of them can be your Doctor too. I decided to join the military to defend our country and freedom but this just hits me a little too hard that someone would do this knowing that I am in the military and every penny I make is hard earned.
Well this is just some of it… there is much more info but I’m sure you’ll get the jist of it. Doe’s anyone know what course of action I should take? My attorney claims that all he does is real estate signing and knows nothing of disclosures and also said that this don’t look good in our favor. It seems to be getting worst for me and my family…everyday! I just spoke to my wife that is living in the house with my 3 yr and 2 yr old children that she sealed of the basement off due to the mold situation in there…people let me tell you, it’s really bad and I’m stuck here in Hawaii and can’t do a thing about it. and to top it off…the city tax assessor said we should just fill the basement with concrete but the contractors for Mold removal, Waterproofing, and Remodeling said the they can have our finished basement back to normal all at a conbined cost of (ready for this) $126,960.00! we bought with VA at $335.000. Home appraised at $401,000.
GOD Bless America!