If the repairs were negotiated as part of the contract, the buyers are required to fix what was agreed upon in the inspection negotiations. However, if a know defect was not disclosed and found after the closing, the previous owners would more that likely be required to make necessary repairs. The key word here is peoprly disclose. If you know of an issue and you did not disclose it, you could be held liable. So, disclose, disclose, disclose!!!! On the other hand, if the inspection section was waived you would not be responsible for reapir unless you did noe disclose a know defect.

This depends on what was agreed upon in the contract. At closing you more than likely signed a form that all repairs, agreements, etc. have been satisfactorily completed or funds escrowed to take care of such items.

If there are things now that you are finding, they are either items that should have been disclosed by the seller and were not, in which case, you should seek the help of an attorney to assit you. Or they should have been found by your house inspector prior to you buying the home. Did you have a qulified inspection on the home?

There are a lot of pieces of this puzzle that need to be answered before anyone can make one determination or another of how to handle this situation.

I always make sure my buyers have an inspection of the home, and if they do not want to do so, then I have them sign a form put out by HUD that states the importance of a house inspection.

It all depends on what was agreed within the contract. If the seller agreed to make certain repairs as a condition to the sale, then they are responsible.

Of course, if they have not fulfilled their end of "the deal" then you do have legal recourse if they fail to meet their contractual obligations.

Good luck!

The problem is the buyer has no leverage after closing at all. The seller may have left town and be very hard to find.

So for practical reasons the seller should never be counted on to do repairs after closing.

Legally in Texas if a seller has fully disclosed to the buyer, and the seller has completed all repairs required under the contract, then the seller probably is not required to do any other repairs.

It is always strange to have something break the day a buyer moves in, but it does happen. There are hard feelings. That is the major selling point of those "home warrantty" companies. They can take care of those things.

A seller would be responsible for repairs after closing if they knew about the problem and/or tried to conceal the problem, which can be difficult to prove, or they made repairs as a part of the contract and those repairs were not done properly. Did you have a home inspection conducted as part of your offer? Were the issues you are referencing come up in the inspection?

AJ Heidmann ABR, CRS, e-PRO
Cell 703-474-1260 Fax 703-518-8314 Toll Free 877-727-3631
AHeidmann@CBMove.com
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Old Town Alexandria
"Serving Distinctive Clients & Properties in Northern Virginia"