Bought a house with termites, can I sue ?

Question

I closed on a house May 13 2020. The sellers wanted 7 days to move out so I granted there wishes. I ended up getting my keys the following week Monday May 18. My girlfriend and I were planning on staying down stairs because there’s a bathroom and two rooms downstairs and the up stairs has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. I just found out May 25 that a room upstairs has termites. I notice the floor was cracked when I first got my keys. But yesterday I really got down and inspected the floor to see the how bad the damage is. Right away I saw wings and the more I looked around I started noticing termites. The inspector overlooked that part. And the damage on the house is not new, so the sellers must have known also. I have people telling me to sue the inspector and some to sue the seller.! The house was occupied during the showing and the inspection. There was furniture above where the termites are at.￼ kind of looks like the the sellers were trying to hide it. What’s the best way on handling this unfortunate situation..

Erik W. · Answer

@Jose Hernandez, generally, home inspectors rule out of bounds anything that cannot be observed due to being covered by the former owner's personal property. You said it yourself, "There was furniture above where the termites are at." Therefore, the inspector could not have seen it. Too, in my town termites are a separate inspection. The general inspector will note any damage from termites IF he sees it, but he won't know all the specific things to look for to find clues that there is hidden damage like what you found. Basically, what I'm saying here is I think you won't gain anything suing the inspector, unless you can prove he was somehow negligent. Most inspections I've seen recently include hundreds of pictures and tons of disclaimers. Go back and read your paper work and check the pics. If the area was covered, odds are he's off the hook.Second, was this a retail MLS sale with real estate agents? If yes, there should have been a Seller's Disclosure. If you have a copy of that, go look at it. They might have disclosed the issue but no one followed up on it, in which case the Seller is not liable since you accepted the deal in spite of the damages. I've seen people read over information on disclosures that described a problem plain as day, then come back after closing asking for money/compensation because of the damages. Too late. The Seller and/or Seller's agent agent is not obliged to hand-hold a person while reading the Seller's disclosure and insist that they demand Seller concessions for defects. Once you sign the closing docs, you've accepted any damages that were disclosed that were not required to be corrected prior to closing.Finally, as Will said above, it may be cheaper and less hassle just to get the repair done and move on. I had a small house with three floor joists that had several foot sections eaten up and also damage to the corner of a room inside the wall and around the sill plate. My handyman and his helper fixed the whole thing in less than a day for about $800. Termite exterminators often have repairmen on staff so that once they kill the bugs, they can also get your business fixing the damage. If they don't have anyone on staff, they probably know someone who does that kind of work. Good luck!

Carl Fischer · Answer

@Jose HernandezFind out how much it’s gonna cost to kill the termites. Subterranean termites can be killed several ways Drywood termites need tenting. Subterranean termites cause more damage quicker than the Drywood termites. Assess the damage and the repair costs and see how much it’s going to be before you make your decision to enter into a legal battle. It may be cheaper to take care of the problems then to start a lawsuit. Good luck!

Will Fraser · Answer

HI @Jose Hernandez; man this sucks! I'm sorry to hear about this frustrating situation ☹️The question of suing really comes down to liability -- who is liable for the failure to know about the termites Certainly the seller may have known, and if an attorney can prove that they DID know and they did not disclose that, it would be a winnable suit. This would be more malice and less negligence (as with the two other cases)The general inspector must not have observed it, otherwise they would have called it out. The attorney would have to show that it was negligence on their part, which is probably unlikely (in my not-an-attorney amateur opinion) because moving furniture in an occupied home is beyond the scope of a normal inspection (and there are many other contingencies that can cover the inspector).The termite inspector would be the most likely to be at fault here, but there again it would probably come down to whether or not the locations of the termite damage where "outside the scope" of the inspection in light of the occupants.My idea for a viable strategy that would save you MONTHS AND MONTHS of frustration (i.e. the legal process) is to have a termite company assess the home and work up a quote for the total remediation. Take that quote to the parties mentioned above and explain the situation in the calmest approach you can muster, and ask them to consider paying this. In my limited experience it is often surprising how much less termite remediation costs compared to what I expect (unless there is structural damage) and now much legal processes cost compared to what I hope.