Liability in the sale of a home | Legal aid

Questioner

We recently sold our house, the transfer was on July 14. Now I received a message from the buyers yesterday, that they have problems with the sewer. Apparently this occurred for the first time, three weeks after the transfer. The sewer was blocked and overflowing. They have now had an investigation done, and part of the sewer in the crawl space has to be replaced. They are now holding us liable for this. I think they (just) didn't meet the two-month deadline. Is that correct? (Based on date of first blockage) Are they even within their rights to file a claim with us? And how long after the transfer can they still make such claims? Thanks in advance!

Lawyer

Whether the buyers can claim rightly depends on a number of factors. Have there been any recent problems with the sewerage system and have you reported this? What guarantees are included in the purchase agreement? Have you guaranteed that the pipes are functioning properly? Has an age clause been included? Has the buyer fulfilled his duty of investigation? Is it an older home or not? If the defect already existed at the time of transfer and the buyer has fulfilled his duty to investigate, then you as seller can be liable for the damage, certainly if you were aware but also in the case of serious defects (which is the case here) if you were not aware. Again, this depends on the content of the purchase agreement. Serious defects for which the seller is liable must be reported to the seller by the buyer as soon as possible, but in any case within 2 months after discovering the defect. A term must be set within which the seller can repair the damage. If the seller does not comply with this, he is obliged to compensate for the damage. The damage does not have to be reported within 2 months after the transfer, but within 2 months after discovering it. In principle, this can be done up to years after the transfer, provided that it can be demonstrated that the damage was already present at the time of the transfer, unless this is excluded in the deed of transfer or the purchase agreement. You would be wise to engage a lawyer to assess whether or not you are liable for damages and to guide you through the process. You can contact me directly if you wish.