When an individual buys or sells a house, the bank needs to do an inspection in order to confirm that the property that is being sold or bought does not have any hidden defects that the concerned party has failed to disclose during the sale. This kind of an inspection is also performed in order to verify if the valuation of the property has been done at the correct price. However, inspecting a house can lead to a variety of outcomes. It could make a buyer withdraw the deal or offer a lower price to the seller. On many occasions an appraiser may have a better understanding on how much the property is worth or the bank may decide if the value of the property for which a loan is requested is worth that amount or not. Last but not the least; it makes a homeowner know what repairs he or she needs to do before selling the house. Below are answers to few of the more common legal questions about home inspection: What legal course of actions can I take against my buyer who after all the inspection was done, refuses to go along with the deal just because she is getting affected by an “unknown irritant” in certain places of my house? I have already made a ratified contract with her. In this case, you could force the buyer to complete the sale by trying to put into effect the written contract that you have made with her. It is possible that in order to withdraw from the contract, she may press charges against you especially because you would force her to do something that she has already refused to do. However, there is a very little chance that she can succeed in this case as she does not have proper evidence on what that unknown irritant is. In a situation like this, you may possibly get a specific performance order from the court asking the buyer to go through with the sale. In case you don’t receive that order, you could still seek compensation for damages that were caused due to the lost sale and for violating the terms and conditions of the contract. Moreover, you may hire an attorney at your buyer’s expense, if there is a provision in your contract which mentions that you can put a charge on your buyer with the attorney’s fees if she is found guilty for violating the contract rules. You would need to check your sales contract for that provision. My seller decided not to sell his property after the inspection was performed. Now, in this kind of a situation, where he backed out the deal, can I recover my earnest deposit money that I spent on the inspection and appraisal? In a situation like this, you could likely force the seller to go through with the sale. Usually, this kind of an action would call for specific performance by the court. In this case, you should be able to recover your ‘out of pocket’ expenses that you have spent on the inspection and appraisal. However, in order to do this, you would need to check the default clause of your sale contract thoroughly. This is because you would need to verify if there is any extra compensation that you are entitled to pay for. I bought a home that passed an inspection. But now when I am trying to sell the same house, it is not passing the inspection. In that case, is it possible for me to get out of a mortgage by selling that same home? In this case, you can sue the inspector who confirmed that the house had cleared the inspection at the time of purchasing. However, you would need to make sure that the statute of limitations has not expired. One must always keep this in mind that a home inspection does not mean that your house or property is safeguarded against problems that may come in future or are unforeseen. It may happen that immediately after your house or property has passed through an inspection, the electrical item in your house like heat systems and air conditioners may get damaged or could stop working. Having that said, it is still very useful to have an inspection conducted before buying a house or property. However, it is very important for every buyer to know that a house inspection does not mean a property appraisal that would help you to determine how much your property is worth. You should also not confuse this kind of an inspection with a code inspection. A code inspection is a kind of inspection that passes or fails a house depending on the code compliance of the local building of that area. If you need any clarification about your particular situation on the subject, you may wish to ask a real estate lawyer for legal insight based on an expert evaluation of your circumstances.
Related Articles -
home inspection, home inspection report, home inspection certification, how much does a home inspection cost, home inspection tips, what is a home ins,
|