# Disclosure Question



## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

Received a call from a realtor who has a property bordering us, that is now bank owned due to foreclosure. She was asking if there was access through ours since the driveway to that property is nearly impassible. They have it under contract and want to check out the wells.

I told her more than she probably wanted to hear. The 'well' is actually hooked up to the septic of the existing house. Bad! There was a spring that fed the house water, but it dries up in the summer and they had to haul water from town. The aquifer around here is down low and no one has gotten a working well up that high on the ridge. She asked about shingles dumped in a big ravine and I said it is 30-40 feet deep and there is a dump truck in it that fell in and they couldn't retrieve it, so they just dumped more on it. All kinds of stuff if dumped in there.

So, my question is, does she have to reveal what I told her or at least check it out to see if true?


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

From past experiences that conversation never happened :hammer:


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

Reminds me of when we traded in a vehicle once. I was trying to explain a few things about the old car and the salesman practically ran from me. Just a more elegant form of dishonesty.


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## bigjon (Oct 2, 2013)

3yrs ago,property out bk of me and my elderly mom came up for tax auction.black muck swamp(16acres).no prior notification to us-found a notice of upcoming sale screwed to a tree(mine).I went to county tax office and offered payment of late taxes-offered to add it to my property.nope treasurer sezs we're going to auction!long story short access to this parcel is across mom's field (now mine)I bought mom out.i got sued for access,took 2yrs and$ 5000 to sort it out.u see this was a wood lot in 1861-access dec 21 thru mar21(frozen).judge ordered it left this way.now county never disclosed state and watershed laws that tie up this parcel!!!!!now i'm out $5000 new owner out $10,000 and can't do a ---- thing on his land.if u know of problems please DISCLOSE to potencial buyers before they get screwed.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

That is heartbreaking...I have had enough issues trying to find land without having to worry about hidden issues.


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## citilivin (Mar 21, 2006)

To answer your question, a Realtor is required to disclose this information.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

citilivin said:


> To answer your question, a Realtor is required to disclose this information.


But this does remind me of my first home back in 1980. When we realized we were in over our head we contacted the realtor who sold us the house. 
We told him our issues including a likely cracked septic tank...he said we were not to say a word. We were in our early 20's and stupid, had no idea we could have reported him.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2014)

They are supposed to disclose anything they know about , doesn't mean they do .


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## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

I'm not sure how deep I want to get in. I wish I knew who had the contract on it. I'm hopeful that either the realtor will be honest or the people are smart and have pre-closing conditions and that is why they want to check the water situation. The well guy will be surprised when the water comes up smelling like doo-doo.
I'm not trying to stop a sale, but the price is way too much for all the issues with the property and the buyer should be told.


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## Gercarson (Nov 2, 2003)

fols said:


> I'm not sure how deep I want to get in. I wish I knew who had the contract on it. I'm hopeful that either the realtor will be honest or the people are smart and have pre-closing conditions and that is why they want to check the water situation. The well guy will be surprised when the water comes up smelling like doo-doo.
> I'm not trying to stop a sale, but the price is way too much for all the issues with the property and the buyer should be told.


Well, you ARE in a "pickle" - because it sounds like you know a great deal about this particular property AND real estate. Instead of "stopping a sale" you might be arming these buyers with negotiating power and knowledge IS power.
These buyers will be your neighbors and more than likely, friends in the near future. Think about that, and then think about how you treat your friends and neighbors. Are you REALLY that kind of guy? Can you actually breath freely knowing that you were "in on" this sort of "deal"?
Just thinking about how I would go about this - think about how YOU will go about this.


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## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

Believe me - I would love to tell the potential buyers, just have no way to find them. The property is land locked, borders ours, but I cannot see it from my house without a good hike and you cannot see the house from the road. So, there's no way to see when someone is there. 
The realtor did not have a sign at the bottom, so I didn't even know the bank listed it until she called this weekend.
I may take the route of contacting the county health dept since they control private wells and septic to see if they can do anything.


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## sidepasser (May 10, 2002)

In Ga. a person has ten days from date of signing a contract to discover whatever they need to find out about a property that has not been disclosed in the contract. That gives the buyer ten days to go to the Courthouse and view records, to the public health department to view permits for water and sewer, and tromp around on the property looking for deep ravines and what they might contain.

The buyers may already know about this and not mind. One never knows what prompts folks to buy property, but I doubt anyone in their right mind would want a piece of land with no potable water available.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

You might not be bound by law to disclose but a friendly posted homemade sign near the property saying, "ask the realtor about water issues and dump ground on the property" might clear your conscience.


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## snowlady (Aug 1, 2011)

When my siblings and I sold Mom's house we were told we did not have to disclose anything unless we had lived in the house in the prior 12 months. We bought our house from people we knew a little bit. Her company was paying for their move due to transfer so technically, they sold to that company and we bought from the company. We all sat down at the same table and did the deal but they were protected because we bought from the "company" who obviously had not lived in the house.


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## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

Well here's what I found out after asking an acquaintance who is a local realtor. The realtor can only tell potential buyers what the seller discloses. Since the seller (bank) has never lived there, they would not know. But, if a potential buyer has an inspection done and something is found, the seller now is aware. If that buyer gets out of the deal, the seller now MUST tell other potential buyers. That is the law.
I noticed they had a survey done and the property is listed on the realty site as 'no water', where before it said 'public'. So, I think they found out that there is no water!


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## KathleenElsie (Sep 28, 2013)

Just a quick note. If you allow the realtor to drive to and from the property on your land, potential buyers can try to have a ROW declared and you will have no say in the matter.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

KathleenElsie said:


> Just a quick note. If you allow the realtor to drive to and from the property on your land, potential buyers can try to have a ROW declared and you will have no say in the matter.


This was bothering me too. If the property is land locked... how is the realtor accessing it... or the previous owners? In my state if a landowner has been using a neighbors property for access for a period of eight years they have established an easement that is very difficult to get closed. This is not a law per she... but a standard used by judges when push comes to shove and the issue ends up in court.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

The downside of buying a property in foreclosure is that the property comes with NO disclosures. The "owner" (the bank) has no knowledge of any issues with the property so they can't disclose and the previous owners don't have to say anything because they aren't involved with the property anymore. The real estate agent doesn't have to say anything - even stuff you told her on the phone - because you're not a credible source. Who is to say you weren't just making it all up so you could buy the property?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Cookie2 said:


> The real estate agent doesn't have to say anything - even stuff you told her on the phone - because you're not a credible source. Who is to say you weren't just making it all up so you could buy the property?


When I was working as an agent I had more than one neighbor who would do their best to kill any potential sale I might come up with by telling the buyers all sorts of horror stories about a given listing. The object of course was so they could eventually buy the property themselves on the cheap.


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## edcopp (Oct 9, 2004)

fols said:


> Received a call from a realtor who has a property bordering us, that is now bank owned due to foreclosure. She was asking if there was access through ours since the driveway to that property is nearly impassible. They have it under contract and want to check out the wells.
> 
> I told her more than she probably wanted to hear. The 'well' is actually hooked up to the septic of the existing house. Bad! There was a spring that fed the house water, but it dries up in the summer and they had to haul water from town. The aquifer around here is down low and no one has gotten a working well up that high on the ridge. She asked about shingles dumped in a big ravine and I said it is 30-40 feet deep and there is a dump truck in it that fell in and they couldn't retrieve it, so they just dumped more on it. All kinds of stuff if dumped in there.
> 
> So, my question is, does she have to reveal what I told her or at least check it out to see if true?


In OHIO, YES. 

Her license to engage in the Real Estate business depends on it; as well as the license of her Broker.

Bear in mind that most "Realatator" ladies tend to have a faulty memeory.

Check your own memory, you could easily find yourself sitting in a court room, UNDER OATH; recalling what you rold her in detail.

Some of the problems that you mention can be very expensive to correct.


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## Mulegirl (Oct 6, 2010)

fols said:


> Well here's what I found out after asking an acquaintance who is a local realtor. The realtor can only tell potential buyers what the seller discloses. Since the seller (bank) has never lived there, they would not know. But, if a potential buyer has an inspection done and something is found, the seller now is aware. If that buyer gets out of the deal, the seller now MUST tell other potential buyers. That is the law.
> I noticed they had a survey done and the property is listed on the realty site as 'no water', where before it said 'public'. So, I think they found out that there is no water!


Good for them! This is why it's so important to have your own realtor, and to get surveys and inspections done before you buy.


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## utilitytk (Feb 21, 2014)

Does the agent have the obligation to disclose these problems? It depends on which state you are in as to whether or not it is a full disclosure state. Here in NC we are not a full disclosure state, HOWEVER, the agent has an obligation to their client to disclose all "material facts" known to the agent. We have a big issue here about flood zones. This is a simple issue to answer but there are a lot of lazy agents here that either don't take the time or don't know how to use Google to find out if a property is in the flood plain or not. It may not be a legal matter whether or not the agent discloses but, in my opinion, it should be an ethical issue. Is the agent protecting their client by not disclosing? Don't think so.


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## fols (Nov 5, 2008)

Here's an update - We met the new neighbor! He is the perfect person to own that land and I couldn't be happier. 
He has his own home inspection business and land clearing business. He was fully aware, through HIS OWN INSPECTION of what he was getting into. Plus he got an excellent price.
Those concerned about the driveway access - there is an existing easement through someone else's land, but with all the snow and the poor condition of the drive the realtor was just looking for a temporary alternative. There is no other alternative.
The new owner is going to clear the fields and start farming it again. He said he wanted his land to look like mine, which made me proud.
They will make great neighbors!


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

Problem solved......


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

Great news to hear! Glad it worked out for you and the new neighbor.


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## KathleenElsie (Sep 28, 2013)

So glad about the plans for the land next to you.


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