Mac wrote:
"Boden" wrote in message
...

Mac wrote:

Hello everyone,
My wife and I bought our first house. A bit of a long story but suffice
it to say that we had very little time to make our decision and were
burnt out when we finally did.
We got the boot from our seven year rental house because the landlords
wanted to move back in. We used up 40 of our sixty days on a house that
didn't pass inspection (and the sellers rejected the inspection). When
we were finally released from the first house we had about a week to
choose a place (we could afford), make the offer, negotiate, close, and
move. We knew we should rent and try to slow things down but couldn't
find anything that would take our four cats.
So, during the final walk through we noticed a couple of cracks in the
block foundation. Our realtor told us we could simply fill the cracks
with a specially formulated epoxy (and gun) and told me where to buy it.
After the closing, we went straight to the place she told up to go and
they looked at me kind of sad like and said, "she doesn't know what she's
talking about, you can't use epoxy for block walls. I felt the dark
clouds forming over my head at that moment. The epoxy supplier gave us a
name of a contractor and he came to the house. He told us not to move in
(which was to happen the very next day), and that we got hosed. Every
wall (that we can see) has several cracks in it (initially hidden by
boxes shoved into closets that were built over the cracked walls). In
hind site, we should have walked away from the place after the final
walkthrough but we were lead to believe that the walkthrough was just a
formality and that we were pretty much locked in to the purchase at that
point.
Okay, so the seller's disclosure form claims there are no cracks in the
basement walls, that there are no leakage problems (which there are), and
no material or plumbing defects that would cause leaking water (I had to
completely regrout the tile shower stall to make it usable.
We found the home buying process to be very dishonest and ugly. I
thought I did my homework (my wife said I was obsessed with not getting
screwed, which I was) but here we are.
These folks made a huge profit (enough to retire on) from us and we're
paycheck to paycheck people stuck with a house we would have to lie about
to resell (which we won't do).
So, short of spending 20-30 grand to have the foundation fixed, what can
we do? We don't have (and never will have) that kind of money.
Some folks have told me that many buyers don't really care about cracks
in foundation walls (in a house this age, built in the early sixties),
but I find this hard to believe.
After all we've been through, we would like to sell the place for the
price of the loan and get another rental (at least for a while). I am an
educator and spend my days trying to teach honesty and integrity and this
whole experience affected me deeply. It's not a bad place (other than
the problems described), it's in a good neighborhood, close to a church,
and pretty quiet with very nice neighbors. But still, I want out in a
year or so.
Are there any consumer protection agencies for this sort of thing? There
are plenty of books out there on how to screw people over but nothing for
the person that gets screwed.
Any advice? Should we just chisel out the cracks (steps, horizontal, and
vertical) and fill them with mortar as best we can? I'm a handy guy but
know next to nothing about masonry.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for listening.

I've been following this post for several days and have a couple of
thoughts. It sounds like you've been had. To make you whole you will
probably need to litigate. Take a set of good photos that illustrate the
problem(s). Make the measurements suggested elsewhere to determine if the
walls are moving, and are now non-planar. Find an attorney with a good
track record in this area, not one that a friend of a friend suggests. Do
your homework and interview several. You are hiring them as a
consultant...approach it that way.

A first order search could be done by using Martindale-Hubble
(www.martindale.com) Talk with the attorney, ask him to suggest an
engineer. The reason for this is that the attorney will know which
engineer will provide the evaluation and opinion that is most likely to
aid you. This may not be the same engineer you will use later to design a
remedy, but the best engineer, complete with plastic pocket protector may
not be the one your attorney wants testifying.

If you can find an attorney who will take this (perhaps on contingency)
then have at the seller. After you know what resources you have to fix
the problem talk with a good engineer and perhaps a hydro-geologist if
water is an issue. Remember though that little can be accomplished to
hold back water from the inside of the foundation. Diversion of the water
from the outside is the most effective approach. French drains, perimeter
drains at the level of the footings, etc. are most effective.

I'm an engineer who has worked with numerous attorneys as an expert
witness...we've never lost a case. (I don't do it any more. I'm
retired.) However, I feel quite confident when I say that as with any
profession, 90% of the engineers and attorneys are not in the top 10%.
Choose carefully.

Boden


Boden,
Feel like coming out of retirement?
Seriously, thanks for the advice. I hope I'm better at choosing an attorney
than I am at real estate agents and inspectors.
I'm concerned though, if I go with an experienced attorney that has been in
the area for a while...he may know the seller. The seller was a businessman
in this area for almost forty years. If I go with a young hot shot, he/she
may lack experience. Should I look for someone with a limited area of
expertise (including real estate) or one with a broader scope?
I will do my homework and take the measurements.
Again, any advice would be appreciated.
-Mac


I'd look for an attorney outside the town/city you live in. Find out
where the court for your county is. Look for an attorney in that city.
Some individual practitioners are very good, but the larger firms tend
to have resources that may be useful. The hourly cost is not as
important as the total cost. I find that the more experienced folks
often cost less at the end of the day. Negotiate. Contingency, fixed
price, not to exceed, etc. Attorneys are in business too.

Boden