Sellers didn’t disclose / State Farm won’t cover collapsed pipe…

[David B.]

Hi all,

so I recently purchased a duplex, and just two months later we have a disaster happening. 

the pipe leading the sewage water to the street collapsed, and now sewage water is flooding into my tenants basement. 

We have an estimate already for 6,600 dollars, but then can’t begin work until Monday at the earliest so now we’re thinking we have to rehouse the tenants. We’re going to offer a rent credit - but they may very well throw a fit since we expect they’ll need to rent  a more expensive to rent a hotel. 

So I called State Farm and they’re telling me they don’t cover things like this - which is CRAZY to me. They may cover some of the rent loss from the tenants, but the pipe they’re claiming isn’t their responsibility. I have a very hard time understanding that… why else have insurance if not for disasters like these? 

Ok so that’s problem one. Problem two is this…

my property manager calls me and says that the tenants are telling her there were sewage issues before (amongst other things) that they complained about to the previous owners. We’re compiling a list of those complaints as we speak so we know exactly what they were. 

But the disclosure documents never mentioned any ongoing issues or complaints from tenants. They do say that their was a plumbing clog in one unit - they hired a plumber - and that they cleared it and the plumber said it “all clear”

But of course… now we know that’s not the case, as my basement is flooded and my tenants are looking for a motel. 

There’s is also a concrete sidewalk issue where a tree has mangled the walkway. A tenant recently tripped on it. 

When we called to find someone who could remove it, one of the companies responded that they had previously priced out a bid for the same house 6 months prior! So apparently the former owners knew that tenants were complaining about tripping on the sidewalk, and looking into removing it, but never mentioned anything in the disclosure docs.

I’m not sure if this is just tough learning bumps, or if these things really weren’t  disclosed properly at the outset - I’m still finding out more info. But it appears that the former owners withheld information, and now two months after purchasing the home I’m dealing with a massive plumbing issue worth about 10k

I’m wondering if you guys have ever had any experience with these issues.

First, what can (or should) I do about State Farm not covering this disaster? It’s becoming very expensive 

second, what recourse do I have against the sellers if we learn they fudged on their disclosures and stuck me with a project with a large Cap X?

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!