Sue for lack of disclosure of water intrusion?

[James Wierzba]

Hi,

I have a rental property that I bought in 2018 in Indiana. It is a "turn key" rental property i.e. I bought this property from a company that buys distressed properties, rehabs them to prepare them for rent, and then sells them to a buyer. They then manage the property using their property management arm of the company.

The property had 3 beds 2 baths. One bed+bath upstairs, two beds + one bath in a finished basement.

Fast forward 5 years (after the long term tenant of 4 years left) and I get a report that the basement has been ruined from water intrusion, requiring the entire basement to be gutted and re-finished. Cost is $40k.

I can't help but think there is liability on the company for selling a property and not disclosing this. Maybe there is also liability for the managing company in neglecting to recognize this issue when it could have been resolved earlier, before the water destroyed the basement.

From my research, I would need to prove that the seller knew about the issue (water intrusion) and decided not to disclose. My intuition tells me that if they were rehabbing a property in poor condition, they surely must have known that water was leaking into the basement. I can't know this for certain, of course.

Not sure if this is worth pursuing with a lawyer or chalking this up to a lesson learned (be very careful buying properties in a wet area with finished basements, ensure it is suitably water-proofed). It is an extremely expensive lesson.