Do I have any legal recourse?
 

I recently purchased a home. Nice 4 bedroom, 3 bath home in Olathe. As part of our preconditions we required the seller to make some minor necessary repairs, and to have a licensed heating and cooling company/contractor take a look at the heating and cooling system to make sure it didn't need repairs, was safe, fully functional, and had no prior conditions.

The HVAC system was 27 years old, and I was hesitant to buy the house because of this. But the seller came down an awful lot from their asking price, and I had put in a low offer. The company who services the unit before I bought the house said the HVAC unit was fine, and I think they just added some freon since they were out. I had the seller buy me an AB May home warranty to cover myself if the HVAC unit did fail.

Within the first 3 hours I had the air on, water started gushing out the front of it, and not going out the hose. I figured it the hose probably just needed to be blown out as there was a clog, but come to find out the HVAC system is pretty much fucked and now it does not even work. I don't know much about HVAC systems, but I was told in essense the A-coil was bad, the furnace had rusted out in the pan or down by the flame, huge freon leaks in the outside and inside, it was unsafe, and a bunch of other things. AB May contends that this is something that was a precondition and they will not repair it under the warranty. The contractor who serviced the unit a month before I closed said there was more or less nothing wrong with the unit. The technician for AB May indicated that if someone had inspected or serviced the HVAC unit and thought that it was fine would of been a complete idiot and/or lying that they even inspected it. He even thought this was something the seller would of had to know about as the problems didn't happen over night.

So tomorrow I'm having my realtor, AB May, and the HVAC company who serviced it come over and have a little pow wow to find out what the hell is going on. My guess is I'm probably screwed, because neither want of them want to pay or admit an error. If none of them want to pay, would I have any legal recourse?

If it was in your contract that it would be fixed, you absolutely have recourse. It may take you 3 years to collect on it, but you'll have damages and interest added as well.

I just did a quick search and AB May is an accredited business in the BBB of Kansas City.

So if anything you can threaten them with that....

I would say you do.

If the seller provided a warranty the warranty company or the seller is on the hook. It is up to the warranty company to go after the tech who may have f'ed up. Yes, you have a case, but you will need to pressure the warranty company. If they resist, then get a lawyer.

Yeah, we made an addendum to the contract. We made a list of things that said if you do not do this we will not buy the house. That included having the HVAC serviced to make sure there are no prior conditions or repairs needed to the unit, and that it was fully functional.

If nobody wants to pay, I guess I'll just have to go to small claims court and shell out 4 grand for a new HVAC unit and try to collect. That will be a pain in the ass, and who knows what documentation I will need as it is a technical HVAC issue that I know nothing about.

Do you have any lawyer friends, or does your wife, or maybe either of your parents?

You dont need heating or A/C in Olathe. It's always 70 degrees and partly cloudy. No?

Did the heating and cooling guy give you a written report?

And didn't your inspector turn it on or look at it or anything?

should have had a home inspection or had your OWN service tech evaluate the system. You are probably going to get hosed.

Yeah, the heater was technically working, but the mechanical inspector saw a little bit of rust near the flame, but he didn't really seem to make it out to be a huge issue. He said we should get the HVAC unit looked at by a HVAC professional to make sure it didn't need repairs and was in good working order. Probably to cover himself as well as he's not a HVAC professional, I don't know.

My girlfriend's dad is a criminal defense attorney. Don't know what he does with civil stuff though.

I'm convinced that the whole realtor/appraiser/contractor/builder/inspector process is just one big fixed network of people who screw people over. Like when we refinanced a couple of years ago. The bank needed the house appraised (understandable) but they would only use an appraiser of their choosing. If the appraisal came in above a certain amount we would get a better rate or some crap (don't remember exactly now). Low and behold, the appraisal came in EXACTLY at the amount that was set and we didn't "qualify" for the best deal. What BS.

Sounds like Auto Mechanics