Looking for legal help with a leaking roof, purchased in July 2023

[Poonam Hemrajani]

I recently purchased the property in July 2023, the property is built in 1940. 

The Seller disclosure mentioned the roof life to be 13 yrs, it is expected to last for 20 yrs, it is a 3 Tap roof,  but within 2 months it leaked. 

During the transaction we had requested all the documents but seller did not provide any as they are not obligated too, the condition of the house looked good, owner was living in 1 unit and tenant in another unit,  bathroom and. kitchen was updated and it did look well maintained, to beat the market we did waive the inspection but after the deal we did get inspected so we can get any minor repairs done before we have the tenants.  The building inspector did mention the property was well maintained and he had mentioned that some shingles are missing, he was not able to guess the roof life so he just referenced the disclosure and put the same age. 

Now the roof leaked ,  The roof is expected to have 7 more years, given recent episodes of bad weather situations,  I was hoping it can pull atleast 3 more years, so asked seller to give some documentation to show its actual age. She has no documentation, no permit information and every roofing company who is visiting the property is saying it is end of life and are saying probably it is already 20 yrs old.  

She was the owner since 1998-2023 and has permits for window replacement dated in 2006 but has no permits for any other activity on the house. Given this I am wondering if she has really changed the roof 13 yrs ago. 

Do you think the seller mis-represented the information on the disclosure about the age of the roof( I don't know if it is fraud or negligence) ? Do I have a case here ? My main worry is what else could be incorrect in the disclosure document which we are yet to discover. 

[Jerry V.]

Poonam, You have to realize... things happen!  And, there is NO longevity warranty or statement anywhere about shingles.  The older ones did get called "20yr, 30yr, etc)... and the newer ones you'll see "limited lifetime warranty" on the wrappers.  Think about it, do you really think they are warrantied or expected to last a lifetime!?  ALL that/those mentioned, is "warranty against defects, from the manufacturer."  Not longevity or such.

Now tis true, GOOD shingles can last 20yrs or so.  But they also last only 13yrs, or 25yrs!  Something you said though, it was already missing a few shingle taBs, right!?  Did you get those fixed!?  (many 3 tab shingles do loose adhesion over time, so will flip up/over or tear off at times) If you didn't fix them, that MAY be the source of the leak.  IF the materials are worth saving, you should be able to find a reputable roofer (wherever your at) to do a repair, and won't try to be slick to talk you into a full roof replacement.

In the end, YOU chose to not have an inspection.  So this really is your responsibility.  But it's pretty simple, just get the roof repaired! :)