Rehabbing a house on a slab with tree roots, cause for concern?

[Stephanie Anson]

I recently looked at a house to flip and ended up passing on it and wanted to see if maybe I should have considered it. The house was built in the 70's and had 2 big trees near the home. In almost every room there were cracks at the door ranging from just a few inches long to a couple of feet. In two rooms there was a large crack the length of the vertical wall where the walls meet. My thought was that the tree was moving the foundation causing the cracks. I have heard mixed opinions on the tree roots. If the trees were cut, would the root die? If not, how do you solve that problem...jack up the house to dig out roots? I would love to hear what other people think about this.