Previous owner failed to disclose a huge problem with home we purchased

lucky1982

Any advice or knowledge would be appreciated. We purchased our home in November and got what we thought was a great deal.  I love our new home but now that it is getting warmer outside and has been raining some we have noticed that we have a marsh/swamp in our back yard.  The yard does not drain well at all and as a result the back deck is sinking.  I am positive the previous owners were aware of this issue, it was not disclosed to us.  Now when it rains our house is filled with mud for days (we have a dog) and the back yard takes several days to dry out just from one rain.  The back yard is unusable after it rains for several days.  Literally can't step off the deck without sinking into mud with standing water. We are getting estimates to fix the drainage issue but it appears it will be a very expensive endeavor.  Do we have any rights to sue the previous owner for failure to disclose?

musictchr25

Every instance is different. We ended up with a mold issue in our basement that was known by the previous owner and failed to disclose, but because we were not able to determine the age of the mold and whether or not it was growing prior to the purchase of the house, we were unable to sue. 

I would talk to your real estate lawyer, probably the same one who was in charge of your closing, and get his or her opinion on the issue. I would think that if this is something you can prove was happening prior to the purchase of the home, you would be able to sue. Just remember that suing will still take a lot of money out of your pocket, even if you win, so it may not be worth it in the end.

Sisugal

Is this an unusual weather year for you? If so, is it possible the previous owners were not aware? (not use back yard etc)
What do neighbors have to say about the situation - did they know about it etc?
You will need proof that previous owners knew and did not disclose.

Sillygirl45

We had a quite a few major issues the previous owners didn't disclose. They had to have known about them, but we had absolutely no way to prove it. We ended up fixing the issues and moving on with our lives. It just wasn't worth trying to prove it to lose and go through all that frustration for nothing.

JoanE2012

Do you have pictures to share with us?  I'm just curious what it looks like.  

How long has the deck been there?  Did the inspector not pick up on the sinking deck?  Did he not pick up on grading issues?

What do the estimates say is required in order to fix the yard?

G2SoccerTaz

I agree if it has been happening for a while the inspector should have picked up on it.

 

Our inspector picked up on the water running directly to our back door and that there has been standing water near a side of the house. We were able to fix both ourselves. We just had to divert the water away from the house.

Talynted

I know nothing of the legal possibilities but I know my dad's area does the same flooding/mud yard thing. He just installed new french drain systems and it's worked great for him after one weekend of hard work. Google French Drains. Hope this helps a little.

Mom987

Somebody on another board recently contacted their water or pipe company and they are fixing it. Let me check.

Mom987

Draining and flooding issues, they're doing this: the inspection is free, but I guess not the repairs.

"So I took a long shot & contacted the city and explained to them what is going on and they are going to come out with the City Engineer and do the inspection of my pipes, for FREE!!!"

virginiagirl11

Just wanted to second looking into French drains. DH just put one in our yard this weekend. It does take a bit of digging, but it's pretty straightforward and inexpensive. If you can get several people to help, you could definitely knock it out in a weekend. Lowe's sells plastic tubing already wrapped and ready to go.

MrsS728

We are having a similar issue with our backyard. Whenever it rains (substantially) we have a swamp in our backyard. Thankfully the town is working with us to ratify the situation.