disclosure/roof/realtor

First time homebuyers. Five days prior to closing, our contractor said there were serious problems with roof, and that he could not certify it for two years as requested by FHA. We also found out at this time, from neighbor, that seller put the roof on himself. Our realtor, when told of this, suggested we pay a contractor friend of his to certify the roof for two years. We resisted and pushed him to negotiate with seller, and to obtain truthful disclosure about the condition of the roof from the seller. He kept saying seller wouldn't pay or fix, that seller had just spent money on gas inspection, that if we didn't close as planned that we would be sued. Realtor refused to negotiate with seller. On Thursday, after screaming match with realtor, I requested that he get an extension of closing. Half an hour later he called and said seller said no (nothing in writing). He, at some point, had gone ahead and sent his contractor's roof cert to the mortgage company, who in turn sent closing papers to title company. We couldn't contact attorney prior to closing and felt forced to close (I know now we shouldn't have). After closing I gave realtor our third and final request for truthful disclosure about roof and proof that he asked for an extension to close. I also asked for a copy of the roof cert that had been sent without our knowledge or consent. On Monday he sent me a contract addendum to change closing date- three days after we had closed! I am filing a complaint against him but I wonder, do we have any way to get money for roof, or is there anything else we can do? Thank you!

I don't know all the specifics that went on here but let's take them as they are presented. If you signed a contract to buy and discovered some serious problem before closing, I'm not sure why you would close at all and don't think you would have to under most purchase contracts. I don't know what your contract said but I would think that you should not have had to close if there was a serious problem with the roof. The time between contract and closing is usually spent on inspection, etc. and being subject to approval.

Who represented you in the contractual stage to purchase the house? Was it your realtor? That could make a difference with regard to your rights.

Having the realtor's people certify things that seemed to be a problem makes me wonder about whether they did a thorough job.

Thank you for responding. I'll try to be more specific. Yes, it was our realtor that represented us in the contractual stage. It was an FHA loan, so in addition to our private inspection, required a FHA appraisal/inspection. It was during this inspection that the inspector noticed a bucket in the attic and requested a roof cert. (I guess the previous private inspector didn't notice the bucket-?)

Anyway, FHA loan approval was contingent upon some requirements being met, a two year roof cert among them. It was my contention, and what I kept trying to get our agent to see, was that without roof cert, there would be no financing, and contract- which was contingent on getting financing- would be voided, or whatever. Instead, our agent sent a bogus roof cert to mortgage company, who quickly approved financing and sent closing papers. I now realize how stupid we were to go ahead and close, but we really didn't know what we were doing and we stupidly didn't have a lawyer on hand. It seems to me, though, that realtor was very unethical in submitting bogus cert, and that FHA just might be interested in knowing that they have quaranteed a loan based on false information regarding the roof.

The roof, by the way, leaks.

Thank you again for your help.

How do you know that the certificate the agent sent was bogus? If it was then you might want to firmly discuss this matter with him and the company.

There is also the matter where it seems that your agent may have been in the position of being your fiduciary. You should take a look at your broker's agreement. I wonder whether full disclosure was given to your broker and whether your broker may not have been so forthcoming in anticipation of losing commissions for a pending sale. There is also the matter of the broker's threatened lawsuit where, if representing you as a fiduciary, the broker should have known that you wouldn't have to go through with the contract if such problems existed.

It would seem that they might claim that you were fully aware of much of what was going on and wanted the property even with the defective condition. That still doesn't change the fact that you may have purchased the house under some duress and were entitled to full disclosure and a chance to change the price given the fact that the roof is faulty. Additionally, there is the matter of a potential problem with the loan if it is discovered that it was made under fraudulent conditions. I guess the moral of the story is that with important, costly investments it is never a good idea to skimp on the contractual aspects if the cost is reasonable and it should be for sales and closings.

Well, I am calling it bogus because it certifies that a roof is good for two years when said roof actually leaks and needs to be entirely replaced.

I don't know about the fiduciary aspects of all this- I will get the brokers agreement and look it over. Is any of this worth hiring a lawyer for? Thanks again for your help!

Originally posted by kimmy:
Well, I am calling it bogus because it certifies that a roof is good for two years when said roof actually leaks and needs to be entirely replaced.

I don't know about the fiduciary aspects of all this- I will get the brokers agreement and look it over. Is any of this worth hiring a lawyer for? Thanks again for your help!

Click to expand...

Take pictures of your roof and make sure it's dated or proof of date. You may want to see if you can settle with the certification company for fraud or gross negligence. Think further than just the real estate company.