When you start shopping for a house in Texas, the law requires sellers to disclose information about the house’s history, flaws and defects. This could include mold in the ceiling, leaky plumbing or drug activity in the home. If your seller isn’t 100% truthful about the house’s history, you might want to take legal action.
What are your options if the seller didn’t disclose everything?
Sellers must disclose all the issues that they know about. If you find an issue before you’ve officially bought the house, you might be able to back out of the sale. Your real estate attorney might have also included a clause in your contract that allows you to walk away if you discover a problem with the house.
If you’ve already bought the house, you might be able to negotiate a deal with the seller. The seller probably doesn’t want to go to court any more than you do, so they might be willing to fix the issue before you move in. Otherwise, you might be able to hire an attorney to help you resolve the issue through mediation. If that fails, taking the issue to court is your last option. An attorney could help you sue the seller for failing to disclose the house’s issues and defects.
How can you sue someone for failure to disclose?
An attorney could help you prepare a lawsuit against the person that sold you a flawed or damaged house. For a successful lawsuit, you’ll have to prove that the seller knew about the issue and deliberately withheld information from you. You might be entitled to a settlement that covers the amount that you paid for the house minus the actual value of the property.
