What should I do?

[Renter4Life]

We sold our house 5 months ago and moved out of state. We were sent a certified letter today from the new owner stating that she has some plumbing issues and wants us to contact her to "resolve" the issue. We had provided a one year warranty through a company that our realtor uses. The new owner states that they will not fix the problems because they were pre-exsisting so she expects us to pay. We have no knowledge of any issue that exsisted when we sold. Should we contact her?

 

[presutin]

Was the owner very specific regarding what plumbing issues she is bringing up five months after the sale? How does the warranty company know that the problem was pre-existing? Did you have the house inspected before the sale by a reputable professional? Check the contract you signed to see what the clause covering plumbing details as part of the warranty. That is a good place to start. Good Luck!

 

[Renter4Life]

Thank you for you response

Yes, she was very specific and included pictures and also the work order from the estimate. She states that the warranty company said that because of the amount of mold and rotted wood that the problem must have been going on for awhile and that there was "cover up paint" on the ceiling below. Strangely in the comment section of the work order it states that when the bathroom was "remodeled" that the "toilet was installed improperly" which is what "caused the leak". We never remodeled that bathroom, never had any issue with the exsisting toilet and never painted any of the ceilings in our house. We moved in in 8/03 and the house was only two years old. It was beautiful, no need to paint. We kept our house immaculate and if there were issues we would've fixed them. Our house had only been on the market for two weeks when we accepted their contract. The first line of her letter reads that the problem started "a couple of weeks after moving in". They had a home inspection done and also their mortgage company performed an inspection as well. They also had a final walkthrough. My instincts tell me not to respond at all but I certainly have nothing to hide. We were unaware of anything wrong. It sounds to me like the warranty company is trying to screw her. Any thoughts?