It seems like only yesterday that I embarked on the journey of home ownership.  The beginning of the journey was both exciting and nerve wrecking.  At the time I did not know much about the ins and outs of buying a home… I just signed where I was told to sign and was handed the keys.

However, my experience has taught me that there is much more too it than that.  Within six months of buying my home, I found myself in a legal melee with the inspector and previous owner.

Granted I purchased the house “as is” but the owners were obligated to complete a disclosure which detailed all material issues involving the home.  As I soon found out… they we not as truthful in their disclosure as they should have been.  They failed to mention the shifting foundation.

But even though they did not mention it… my inspector should have caught it, right?  Well, he pointed out some of the signs… like cracks on the exterior and doors that did not quite fit… but he attributed these things to another smaller problem and told me not to worry about it.

Taking the disclosure at face value and trusting the inspector’s opinion, I purchased the home.  It was only a few months after living in the home did I realize that I had been duped.  I sought legal advice and then fight began…

Since I have gone through this negative experience, I now have an idea of some of the legal questions I should consider when buying my next home:

1 - Disclosures

The seller is required to disclose certain facts about the home to potential buyers.  Those certain facts may vary from state to state… but generally, any issues that may have significant financial impact the buyers should be disclosed… such as crumbling foundations or water leaks.

These types of problems may affect whether a buyer purchases the home.  For this reason, many sellers are not as forthcoming in the disclosures as they could be. But disclosures do not always contain negative information.  For example, the seller should also disclosure that the air conditioning unit or hot water heater was recently replaced. Just keep in mind, sellers are more apt to include the positives and leave out the negatives.

Have a licensed inspector inspect the property.  And considering my experience… you may want to have two or three inspectors check out the property.  It may costs a bit more, but in the long run… it is worth it.

2 - Zoning issues

Make sure you know all of the zones that affect your new home.  Is it in a flood zone… earthquake zone?  What is the building zone… can you add on a room and put up a fence without getting in trouble? Is it near a commercial zone?  When I was looking for a home, I saw a really nice house.  However, I noticed that the back yard was adjacent to a vacant lot.  I asked the realtor what was on the other side of the fence.  She told me that it was the area that was going to be the parking lot for a restaurant.  I am not sure about you, but I am not interested in living that close to a commercial area.  Just as easy as they could build a restaurant, they could have built a nightclub or any other noisy business that fell within the confines of that zone… right in my backyard!

3 - Title issues

If you are financing the home, most banks will require a title search.  But whether it is required or not… you should always have a title search done.  This will reveal everyone who has a claim to the property… banks, other individuals, governments…  If the person was involved in a civil suit, a lien can be placed on the property.  If the owner fails to pay property taxes, the local government may impose a tax lien… the lien is on the property, and can be passed down to a new owner.  If a person fails to pay federal taxes, a lien can be placed on the property.  Again, if the property is sold, the lien can be passed down to the new owner.  Therefore, it is important to do a title search and make sure that the current owner settles any claims on the property before you sign on the dotted line.