Hello William,

As a person who has had dealings as a buyer with a seller falsifying a disclosure report here is my two cents. It is not legal advice and you should have it verified.

I would have my Agent draft a written request for all of the items you wish to be repaired. In the written request make references to the specific wording in the inspection report by page number in the report only. Also in that same document make a specific remark that the inspection report is attached to the request. In the request also note that you want a WRITTEN response to your request. Then send that request and the FULL inspection report to the seller's Agent/Seller. At that point the seller now has the entire report and not just a specific section with your requested items. Since it has already been verified that they must disclose what they know they now know everything that was found in the inspection. If other items are on the report are items that must be disclosed, but you were not interested in having them repaired, then they are now on notice for those as well. If you do not purchase the home, for whatever reason, then the next buyer is potentially protected from non-disclosure.

Good luck on the home buying process.

Emmanuel J. Scanlan
PS Inspection & Property Services LLC http://www.psinspection.com
214-418-4366 (cell)
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International Code Council, Residential Combination Inspector #5247015-R5 (Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and Building)
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CMC Energy - Certified Energy Auditor

Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge brings peace!!

William, if you show him the page from your inspection report that says the roof is shot, then he legally has to disclose this defect.

Again, as I said before, your lender is going to be the problem most likely. Even if for some reason you guys agreed to not do anythign with the roof, the appraisser for the bank most likely would call the roof and not allow the loan to go through without some kind of remedy prior to close.

Hi William
I agree with Sandy,the owner does not have to fix it all.but he will be obligated to disclose it the next time he has an offer.
if you like this house just negotiate the price down or some other term ,ask your agent to .
Good luck
A.J.Zaki

The best way to take care of this problem is:
Have a home warranty installed including the roof, have an estimat done and live some money for the repairs in escrow to take care of the matter

RHG

Hi William

Yes the seller is obligated to disclose on the Form 17 any information he obtains that can affect the value of the home. You are also correct that eventually he'll have to address the issues with the roof, whether its to fix the problems or perhaps reduce his price. Work with your agent to negotiate a win win and everyone will be happy in the end.