New homeowner w/ water leaking into the house thru the HVAC vent

[Rogers Marquess]

Hi, 

My wife and I bought a recent flip in February 2022. The sellers cut a lot of corners. Sadly some issues were not discovered during various inspections. We have had persistent issues w/ the roof HVAC unit. And the HVAC permit process was shady. 

During a very dry summer we noticed a minor drip from the return vent into the house. At the same time - there was water coming off the roof. The worthless Home Warranty company sent out an HVAC repair. He let us know that there was no drain pipe installed and water was running down the side of the unit and off the roof. The original installer begrudgingly came out after insisting we did something w/ the drain pipe he installed. Photos from the inspection proved there was no drain pipe when we bought the house. The installer also claimed the drip in the return vent was due to a dirty filer. We had another HVAC company come out to check their work. They said the HVAC unit is budget - and the drip may be due to an overflowing drip pan / excess condensation. 

And now after a few days of heavy rain, water leaks into the house from the return vent. We had a reputable HVAC repair company come out to check the unit. They were not able to determine the source of the leak. They suspect the unit was not properly installed. The did discover the insulation in the unit itself is soaked. 

The HVAC permit took weeks after closing to get finalized. And no one from the city ever came out to physically inspect the unit. I'm besides myself that our general inspector did not notice the lack of drain pipe. And question if the HVAC would have passed inspection if someone actually looked at the unit. The seller has been responsive and is attempting to get the original HVAC installer to address the issue. There is a 2 year warranty on labor and 10 year warranty on the unit. 

Would love any thoughts on what, if any, legal recourse I have should the cost to fix the leak becomes more than the seller is willing to cover if we need to get a crane out to reinstall the unit. 

Many thanks! And happy new year to all!! 

rm

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Rogers Marquess, I didn't read anything in your post to indicate that the seller would have any legal responsibility here. It sounds like they hired a licensed and insured HVAC company that pulled a permit. I didn't see anything to indicate that the seller knew of any issue.

The seller would be liable if they knew about this issue and failed to disclose it or lied about it but it doesn't sound like that happened.

If you want to hold anyone liable, I think you need to CLEARLY determine what was wrong. It sounds like the new HVAC "suspects" improper installation but suspect is a LONG LONG ways from identifying what wasn't installed correctly. If the unit itself was defecting then the warranty coverage (assuming its transferable to the new owner) would be your solution.

Unfortunately, just because something like this happens doesn't mean anyone else is always liable. Even if they are you need to clearly identify which party is liable and why before you could even hope to hold them accountable.