Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: error and ommisions

I answered a different version of your question a couple minutes ago. Even though I now see that you say you just discovered the problem, I still think you should have your own attorney review all the facts and contracts and advise you on a situation-specific basis, since "discovered" and "should or could have discovered" are different concepts and could be years apart in the legal time-frame. You have big bucks at stake and it isn't a good decision to sit on your hands and let the months pass by.

Re: error and ommisions

I'd have to agree with Attorney Whipple. You don't have any time to waste, and frankly, you are going to need an attorney to review this and work with you. You should be aware of several things, however, before you get too deep into this. First, the statute of limitations is probably going to have started running when you "reasonably should have discovered" the defects, not when you actually discovered them. Second, I seem to recall some cases involving matters of public record (i.e., the building file for your home at the City). As I recall in those cases, the buyer of the property was charged with knowledge of anything that is public record, whether they actually reviewed it or not. Third, the real estate agents involved have a much lower standard for disclosure than do the Sellers. The agents really only must disclose what is actually known to them, or what they could reasonably discover through visual inspection of the home. They are generally not held to a higher standard than "if the average person wouldn't have noticed the problem visually inspecting the home, then they have no duty to disclose." Finally, your home inspection report contains a lot of CYA language, but if the problem was easily discoverable by a professional, then they might be liable. Go see an attorney immediately.

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