Water in Basement - Seller Didn't Disclose

[Anonymous]

Have a problem. My husband and I bought our house almost a year ago. When we bought it the house was sold as is with basic cosmetic work. Well since we moved in here we have had to pay a plumber over four times now to have our house snaked due to sewer backup and pipe problems. Then two weeks ago had a snow storm and quick melt and basement completely flooded again. In our Disclosure form the prior owner checked off the no answer for any water problems. The plumber said this is not something that just occurred. We found water behind basement walls. Found they painted the walls over to hide water damage. And now we have to pay almost 3,000 to have new piping done on outside of house. Would the prior owner be held liable for covering up and failing to tell us of water problems.??? Please help we are literally becoming broke.???

[aaron]

The laws governing seller disclosure, and your remedies for non-disclosure, vary substantially by jurisdiction.

Your rights will also vary depending upon what the seller in fact represented. For example, if they represented that there are no water problems, that's not the same thing as saying that there have never been any water problems. If they represented only that there were no water problems at the time of sale, and argue that they thought all the water problems had been fixed, it can present a significant issue of proof to establish that they actually knew of a continuing water problem.