Any lawyers in the house?

[Jugernot]

My wife and I just recently sold our house after it sitting on the market for 6 months. We closed on April 2 of this year and thought all was well.

Fast forward to today and I got an email from our realtor saying the buyer sent her a invoice for some repairs that he performed to the plumbing. The short of it, he says there were a couple of leaky drains and had to replace a P trap and some ABS pipe for the main drain. Ohhh btw, he just happens to be a plumber by trade and of course, didn't get any independent 3rd party to come and confirm the issues, but did all the repairs himself.

Here is the thing, there were no issues with the plumbing... they had an inspector come in two times and he found nothing.

His bill is for $2k and he is demanding payment or "things will be escalated" in his words.

It's all very fishy, IMO. My question is this, does he really have anything to stand on as far as getting paid for work he performed himself without any 3rd party to verify the problems? Every case I've ever heard similar to this, the courts have said the buyer can be paid for parts, but not his or her own labor.

I'm obviously not going to pay the guy as I believe he's trying to scam us because he's pissed we didn't give him as good of a deal on the house as he wanted.

What do you all think?

 

[highland145]

They were eaten by the mods.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Ignore it. Once he signed the contract he took over all responsibilities for any and all repairs, pre-exisiting or not, unless those specific repairs were stipulated in the contract (highly unlikely).

Besides, it probably cost him $50, if that, to make those repairs and the dude is asking for 2 Gs? What a douche. Tell him to go fuck himself.

 

[brxndxn]

IANAL, You owe him nothing. Don't send a response to any of his letters.

 

[Slew Foot]

Tell him to go fuck himself. Nothing came up during the inspection, he can take pills and die in a fire as far as youre concerned.

 

[JTsyo]

I believe all matters are supposed to be settled at the closing. If he didn't have anything at closing that said that you would be responsible for work on the house, I don't think it can be enforced. Of course, I'm not a lawyer.

 

[blackdogdeek]

that's what inspections and a final walkthrough are for. at least what i thought.

 

[AMCRambler]

There is usually a clause in the closing contracts that states that you have disclosed everything to your knowledge regarding the state of the home. If you agree to this clause, any major issues that come up that need to be repaired, the buyer can come after you on the presumption that you had prior knowledge of the problem and did not disclose it. What a lot of lawyers recommend you do as a seller is to offer a sum of 500-1000 dollars say taken off the sale price if the buyer will agree to removing that clause from the contract. Prevents the buyer pulling shit like this after you've sold the house.

That said, for this guy to take you to court and get any money, he'd have to prove that you had prior knowledge of whatever he had to repair and you sold it to him without telling him there was a problem. That means small claims, a lawyer and that shit gets expensive. Possibly more than 2k just to defend yourself.

I would take a close look at your sale contract that you signed and look for the clause I described to see what you agreed to. If it's not there and the contract sais the sale of the house is "as is" I don't think he's got a leg to stand on.

 

[Juddog]

Ignore it. Once he signed the contract he took over all responsibilities for any and all repairs, pre-exisiting or not, unless those specific repairs were stipulated in the contract (highly unlikely).

Besides, it probably cost him $50, if that, to make those repairs and the dude is asking for 2 Gs? What a douche. Tell him to go fuck himself.

^^ This.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Tell him to go ahead and escalate things.

 

[Juddog]

Tell him to go ahead and escalate things.

Don't be hatin', start escalatin'!

 

[Jugernot]

That is pretty much what I thought. The guy is nuts IMO, if he thinks I'm just going to reach into my pocket and pay him $2k for something that wasn't even a known issue on his own word that a repair was needed without any verification.

I've seen enough Judge Judy episodes to know that new owners can't charge the previous owner for work performed if they do the work themselves, thought parts are usually covered.

Ridiculous, I say!

 

[Vageetasjn]

Setting aside all the contract language, a judge would have a hard time believing a professional plumber didn't notice the problems before he bought.

 

[James Bond]

Just saw this exact scenario on Judge Judy.

He bought the house as is - no money for him!

(Edit: Just to be clear; the circumstances on Judge Judy were far worse, and there really was a problem. The home buyer still got no money.)

 

[MotionMan]

If only we could find a real estate litigation attorney to ask this question!!

Oh...

wait...

nm.

MotionMan, Esq.


P.S. What they said.

 

[highland145]

MotionMan, Esq.


P.S. What they said.

How did you escape the mod eating machine?

 

[Crusty]

How did you escape the mod eating machine?

He's got a key out of Olds' basement....

 

[olds]

^^^ I am following you...

OP
Tell him, "escalate this" while pointing at your crotch.

 

[MotionMan]

How did you escape the mod eating machine?

They ate me up and spit me out a few months ago.

I have a short respawn period.

MotionMan

 

[amdhunter]

Go burn the house.

 

[highland145]

I have a short respawn period.

MotionMan

No wonder people dislike lawyers. Present company excluded of course.

Can't swing a dead cat around here....

 

[ElFenix]

If only we could find a real estate litigation attorney to ask this question!!

Oh...

wait...

nm.

MotionMan, Esq.


P.S. What they said.

<--- has no idea, does mostly oil & gas and m&m liens in the 'real estate' area.

 

[Jeeebus]

How did you escape the mod eating machine?

I'd like to know, because Olds is currently nibbling on my toes.

 

[fantolay]

Hope all goes well. Tell this asshole to fuckoff

 

[highland145]

I'd like to know, because Olds is currently nibbling on my toes.

What's the old saying...try it you might like it.

No that's not the one.:\