[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Comanche

Here's the deal. . .

1. When you purchased your home, the sellers signed a DISCLOSURE form. The form lists all of the known problems with the home. Was the HVAC unit listed on the disclosure form?

2. When you purchased the home, an INSPECTION was conducted of the house. What company completed the inspection? Was anything said about the HVAC unit on the inspection form? It sounds from your description that the mechanical inspector pointed out that the unit looked dubious and needed to be looked at.

3. Many home sales these days include an appliance warranty as a part of the deal. Was an appliance warranty a part of your purchase transaction?

4. "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."

This clause would have been effective had you exercised it PRIOR to the closing or prior to taking possession of the house. The seller should have provided you with evidence that they had complied with the requirements PRIOR to closing. Since you took possession it seems as though you waived your written requirements.

In my opinion, your best hope is to negotiate a settlement with the Realtor. Your seller is not likely on the hook unless the seller had known of the problem and failed to disclose the problem. The seller may also be on the hook if he had made any assurances concerning the unit, informing you that it was in great condition and etc. Since you didn't say the seller made such assurances and he disclosed the unit was an older model, I doubt the seller is on the hook. Since the inspection service actually pointed out problems with the unit and suggested it be looked at, it is not likely the mechanical inspector would be on the hook. If, however, the mechanical inspector approved the unit on the inspection form, you may have some luck there.

1. The Realtor is a professional and case law seems to indicate that even if a realtor doesn't know about such problems, as a professional, he SHOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE PROBLEM. Again, you don't want to actually take the realtor to court but with some negotiation, you might get him to agree to refund some of the commission.

2. The company that conducted the inspection had to have signed some form indicating their opinion of the condition of the home. If that company indicated that the HVAC unit was inspected and found to be OK, perhaps you may have some recourse against that company? Again, stay out of court if you can but try to negotiate a settlement. Inspection people don't get a ton of money for the service so your most likely source of real money is the realtor.

3. I doubt that you will have any luck against the company that serviced the unit. That company just provided an opinion to you based upon their experience with the unit.



I am not an attorney. . .this is just my opinion.

Blah, taking away my agents commission. That may be hard, but if worst case scenario, you gotta do what you gotta do. I wonder if the insurance for the contractor who serviced the HVAC unit would take care of anything if he made an error in looking at it and it's condition?