This has to be the new funniest thing I have ever read. This has to be someone trolling, right?
Quotes literally out of the trial brief I read to the Judge in court and handed to her:
- "Purchase and Sale Agreement: while sold as-is, such contract does not permit Seller to fail to disclose defects he
or his agent/contractors were aware of."
- There is a "duty to disclose the defects to a purchaser if such defects might materially affect the value of the property."
- "Unless the Buyer's reliance on such information is completely irrational or 'preposterous,' a buyer is entitled to rely on the representations of the other party and on the representations of the other party's agent without making an independent investigation or verification to discover the falsity of the representation."
- "The knowledge required to impose the duty on the property owner to give proper notice may be actual or constructive. An owner is charged with constructive knowledge of defective work whenever the owner knows of any facts that would prompt a prudent person to inquire. In such cases, the owner is
deemed to know all matters that a diligent inquiry would have disclosed. This is the Seller’s burden, not the Buyer’s."
- "Seller admittedly knew or was
imputed to know of many of the defects because they were disclosed in the inspection report he and his agent prepared. Such facts generated an affirmative duty of inquiry and investigation on the Seller, as stated above,
since the items were not immediately accessible to Buyer. Having such duty, Seller is
deemed to know all matters that a diligent inquiry would have disclosed, and Seller cannot negate such duty by claiming that Buyer should have conducted his own investigation."
- "An owner who hires others to do work on his property
has the same degree of responsibility as if the owner had done the work personally. The owner's duties extend to the immediate purchaser of the property and to third persons who are within the area of foreseeable risk."
- "To the extent that owner is liable to a buyer for damages caused by negligent construction, the owner
may seek indemnity from the contractor, engineer, or other person whose negligence caused the defect. Thus, the Defendant has recourse against his contractors, agents, and inspectors for any damages incurred in this action."
Proving that you didn't know about it isn't good enough. All the defendant has to do is show that
you should have known, or that
another party who is responsible to you should have known. Then you can in turn seek recourse from the other party.