Liability for hidden defects in a home

Questioner

I have had the key to my new home since 1 February 2016. I have a moisture problem in the basement of the house, which was not disclosed when the house was sold. The sellers had placed scaffolding wood against the wall where the moisture is mainly located. When I removed the old laminate flooring, there were a few millimetres of water on the floor. When removing the scaffolding wood from the wall, it turned out that the wall was full of moisture and mould. The sellers and the selling agent indicate that they know nothing about it and do not want to do anything for me. The moisture must have been there for a long time when the sellers were still living there, does this not fall under a hidden defect? ​​I have also spoken to a few neighbours and they indicate that they also constantly suffer from moisture in the cellars and therefore do not use them as living space. Because of this moisture I cannot sleep in the house, since my bedroom is in the basement and this can never be good for my health to sleep in. I know that a lot needs to be done to make this liveable and that will of course cost a lot of money. Can I not hold the sellers and the real estate agent liable for this? If I had known this in advance, I would never have bought the house. I hope you can help me further.

Lawyer

From your explanation I gather that there may be non-conformity of the home due to a hidden defect. If the purchase agreement has been drawn up in accordance with the NVM model, then there is non-conformity if the defect 1) was already present at the time of purchase, 2) hindered normal use of the home and 3) was not or should not have been apparent to you. The seller has a duty to report. Defects that he knows or should have known at the time of the purchase, he must report. If it is established that the seller knew or should have known the defect, but did not report it, then he is in breach and is liable in any case. On the other hand, you also had a duty to investigate. You had to make sure that the house had no defects that could hinder the use of the house in accordance with its intended purpose. The first question is therefore whether you had a building inspection carried out prior to the purchase. Defects that were already visible or would have come to light during an inspection by an expert are in principle at your expense. In the present case, it may be a serious defect (moisture penetration), of which it is presumed that the seller was aware of the damaging consequences. In that case, he is liable for the damage, consisting of the costs of repairing the defect. It is now important to put the seller in default as soon as possible and to summon him to repair the defect within a reasonable period. If the seller fails to do so, you can repair the defect yourself (or have it repaired) and claim the costs from the seller, or at least partially dissolve or annul the purchase due to error. As far as the latter is concerned, you have been misled about the quality of the home by concealing a known defect, which has caused you to err. As a lawyer, I specialise in real estate law and regularly handle disputes about hidden defects in purchases. If you have any questions or would like legal assistance in this matter, please feel free to contact me without obligation and free of charge for further consultation.