I'm a 100% service-connected disabled veteran who bought a home in the country to escape the stressors of city life, recover peaceably from my injuries and gain better education opportunities for our children. My wife and I have achieved finding better opportunities for our children but have escaped one set of stressors for another and have yet to attain the peace I sought to recover. The seller of the home we purchased in March of this year intentionally concealed from us that the property had a nearly three year history of rain run-off drainage issues that impact our property and the property of a neighbor to our east. The sellers lied on three questions asked on their Oklahoma Disclosure form and have ignored my three, certified letter's requesting that they only pay for the cost of materials to correct the problem (roughly $7,000) and to sign a waiver releasing them of any future responsibility related to the drainage issues.
Myself and three neighbors agreed to perform all the labor required to correct the issues, at our own expense of time and would use our combined personal equipment (tractor/backhoe, shovels, etc.) to help defray the significant expense the seller would've otherwise been faced with. The overall cost to repair the issues have been estimated by professionals to be between $18,500 and $25,000. As a disabled veteran on fixed, disability income I simply don't have the extra income to pursue this couple for their fraud. They've been made aware of the problems and my difficulties directly related the problems through conversations with their former neighbors, my certified letters, and a text message I sent to one of the sellers phone. I'm told by one of my neighbors that a mutual friend of his and the sellers stated that he was told by one of the sellers that he will not do anything towards correcting the issues.
I've been patient and more than fair in addressing this issue and requesting that the sellers take responsibility for their failure to disclose the defect, which had I known about would've either negotiated to have the issues repaired or we simply wouldn’t have purchased the home. I had no opportunity to make that decision because the sellers answered NO to questions #7, #13, and #14 on the Oklahoma Home Sellers Disclosure Form (there was also water damage to the kitchen ceiling that had been poorly repaired but wasn't visible at the time of the inspection and a large hole in the garage wall that had been covered by large floor tiles).
I was willing to let the two latter issues go if the sellers would recognize and work with me on the drainage issue. I have numerous photos of the drainage issue, taken by sellers while they lived in the house. Some were taken by the female seller from inside the garage and one was snapped from inside male sellers truck. The photos were sent via text message to both the east and west neighbors along with text messages describing two ways the sellers planned to address the issue. I also have proof of covenant violations they also did not disclose, the most significant of which created the drainage situation to begin with. I also have three neighbors willing to provide testimony to support that the sellers knew about the issue well ahead of my buying the house. The seller’s own realtor and broker (Keller-Williams) are prepared to support my efforts should I be able to find a way continue. The sellers lied and refuse to accept responsibility for an issue they created and were very clearly aware of but wasn’t disclosed to until some concerned neighbors chose to speak up a good rain came to fully illustrate the issue. Please provide helpful and constructive comments so that I might be able better achieve my goal of having this issue fixed while holding the sellers accountable for their deceit.
Mike and April Robertson Reviews
I'm a 100% service-connected disabled veteran who bought a home in the country to escape the stressors of city life, recover peaceably from my injuries and gain better education opportunities for our children. My wife and I have achieved finding better opportunities for our children but have escaped one set of stressors for another and have yet to attain the peace I sought to recover. The seller of the home we purchased in March of this year intentionally concealed from us that the property had a nearly three year history of rain run-off drainage issues that impact our property and the property of a neighbor to our east. The sellers lied on three questions asked on their Oklahoma Disclosure form and have ignored my three, certified letter's requesting that they only pay for the cost of materials to correct the problem (roughly $7,000) and to sign a waiver releasing them of any future responsibility related to the drainage issues.
Myself and three neighbors agreed to perform all the labor required to correct the issues, at our own expense of time and would use our combined personal equipment (tractor/backhoe, shovels, etc.) to help defray the significant expense the seller would've otherwise been faced with. The overall cost to repair the issues have been estimated by professionals to be between $18,500 and $25,000. As a disabled veteran on fixed, disability income I simply don't have the extra income to pursue this couple for their fraud. They've been made aware of the problems and my difficulties directly related the problems through conversations with their former neighbors, my certified letters, and a text message I sent to one of the sellers phone. I'm told by one of my neighbors that a mutual friend of his and the sellers stated that he was told by one of the sellers that he will not do anything towards correcting the issues.
I've been patient and more than fair in addressing this issue and requesting that the sellers take responsibility for their failure to disclose the defect, which had I known about would've either negotiated to have the issues repaired or we simply wouldn’t have purchased the home. I had no opportunity to make that decision because the sellers answered NO to questions #7, #13, and #14 on the Oklahoma Home Sellers Disclosure Form (there was also water damage to the kitchen ceiling that had been poorly repaired but wasn't visible at the time of the inspection and a large hole in the garage wall that had been covered by large floor tiles).
I was willing to let the two latter issues go if the sellers would recognize and work with me on the drainage issue. I have numerous photos of the drainage issue, taken by sellers while they lived in the house. Some were taken by the female seller from inside the garage and one was snapped from inside male sellers truck. The photos were sent via text message to both the east and west neighbors along with text messages describing two ways the sellers planned to address the issue. I also have proof of covenant violations they also did not disclose, the most significant of which created the drainage situation to begin with. I also have three neighbors willing to provide testimony to support that the sellers knew about the issue well ahead of my buying the house. The seller’s own realtor and broker (Keller-Williams) are prepared to support my efforts should I be able to find a way continue. The sellers lied and refuse to accept responsibility for an issue they created and were very clearly aware of but wasn’t disclosed to until some concerned neighbors chose to speak up a good rain came to fully illustrate the issue. Please provide helpful and constructive comments so that I might be able better achieve my goal of having this issue fixed while holding the sellers accountable for their deceit.