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Updated over 1 year ago, 03/31/2023
Property under contract. Seller lying on disclosures, what should we do?
My wife and I got a property under contract a few days ago. We just got a copy of the seller disclosures and know with certainty that the seller is lying about 2 things. After we looked at the property, we got a copy of the signed lease agreement for the current tenants that allows us to give them a 30 day notice to vacate upon closing. HOWEVER, the seller marked that the home was not being used as a rental. Lie number 1.
When we lined up our insurance on the property our agent informed us about a claim made for a little more than $10,000 in Sept. 2021 because of water damage. The Seller denied that any claims were ever made on the property.
Now we're getting an inspection tomorrow that will tell us a lot about the place. But given the insurance claim she's lying about we're not sure what recourse we might have.
We're working on getting more information on the insurance claim, like what was it for? Who did the repairs? etc.
So ultimately, having proof that she's lying about $10,000+ worth of water damage what could that mean legally? Could that be grounds for a lawsuit in the future? We'll probably have our realtor send theirs a message asking for honesty. Do we just inform them that we know about the insurance claim and hope for the best?
We'll more than likely be asking for a lower purchase price at this point, but if she denies lowering the price should we just close and take legal recourse against her if the damage is still present/ unfixed? It'll make a good cash flowing property, but the seller clearly can't be trusted.