Purchased my first home in E. Oakland (Having Electrical Issues)

[Ernie Espinoza]

I am in need of help please. I closed escrow in mid-August 2017, but I did not move into the house till September 1. I started doing some additional work on floor and painting though the month of September and October. I am single so I had been using minimal electricity. On November 1st I had a family move into the house. Now that there were additional people in the house besides just me, more lights were being used. A week ago I started noticing lights flickering and electrical breakers going out. I contacted an electrician and he came out to look at my electrical box. First thing he said is it was a mess. The breakers are not wired correctly and the wrong breakers are being used. He also quickly noticed that the PG&E meter is being bypassed. He did not want to continue to work on the electrical box and informed me to contact my real state agent since it was a new purchase.

I did my due diligence and hired a home inspector. After re-reading through his report, and looking at the pictures he took. There is no mention of any meter bypassing or any wrong breakers.

I need to get this fixed ASAP….. am I completely liable for this fix…? Does the Inspection company or selling agent hold any liability…?  Do i need to go after the seller...?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated…. Thanks.

[Arlen Chou]

@Ernie Espinoza most likely this will be coming out of your pocket.  You could try and get money out of everybody, but the process will probably be slow and potentially long.  Personally, I would have the work scheduled and also pursue the financial side in parallel.  Right now, if there is an electrical fire the first person that anybody will look at is you...  Take care of your liability first.