Must home sellers disclose dying tree?
Dear Barry,
We are currently selling our home and have a questionabout seller disclosure. Beside our house, there is a large Dutch elm tree. Itis diseased and will probably die in a couple of years. Our buyers have notraised any question about the tree, and the symptoms of the disease are notreadily noticeable. Should we tell them about the tree or just let them enjoyit until it needs to come down? –Jim
Dear Jim,
In today’s litigious environment, it is never wise towithhold or abridge real estate disclosure. There are buyers out there whowould sue over the loss of a tree with an undisclosed disease. So play it safeand disclose everything you know about the condition of your property. It isthe way you would want to be treated if you were the buyer.
As for allowing the buyers to enjoy the tree for the timebeing, that enjoyment will have little intrinsic value when they eventually paythousands of dollars to have the tree removed. If they should then suspect thatyou knew about the problem, you could find yourself wishing that you had saidsomething before the property was sold.
The answer to all disclosure uncertainties consists of threesimple words: disclose, disclose, disclose. Allowing one exception to thisbasic rule invites further exceptions. It is a slippery slope that leads tocostly liability. The disclosure you withhold today could be tomorrow’s incomefor a hungry attorney.
Dear Barry,
This is not a question, but a comment. I met a homeinspector in a hotel hot tub in Montana. He loved doing home inspections in thewinter because exterior problems were often covered by snow and he could justcheck the “unknown” box and avoid any responsibility or recourse.Could you please alert readers to this unfortunate cop-out? –James
Dear James,
In cold states and high elevations, heavy snow can severelylimit the thoroughness of a home inspection. This is an unavoidable reality inmany areas of the country. In winter months, deep snow prevents inspectors fromevaluating the lower portions of walls, some portions of foundations, grounddrainage conditions around buildings, various plumbing fixtures (including yardsprinklers), driveways and patios, stairs and decks, roof conditions, chimneytops, and more. In such cases, home inspectors have no choice but to listburied conditions as “unknown” and to recommend evaluation after thespring thaw. If inspectors take pleasure in the seasonal work relief providedby snow cover, they reveal the lazy proclivity of human nature itself, not thescandalous nature of the home inspection profession.
Those who buy homes that are partially obscured by snow mustaccept a degree of risk. To some extent, they are buying property sight unseen,and in many instances, defects become apparent when warm weather returns.
Home inspectors sometimes joke among themselves that theperfect inspection site is a house with a slab foundation and a flat roof. Thistranslates, of course, to no crawling under the floor or through the attic. Nowthe list can be expanded to include a slab home in heavy snow.
White winters limit the thoroughness of home inspections. Itis an inescapable reality in colder climates, one that should not be heldagainst home inspectors, even if they take pleasure in the momentary respite.
To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the Web at www.housedetective.com.
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Copyright 2007 Barry Stone
