Thread: failure to disclose failed inspection??

LOCATION: Indiana

Hello, first time poster and forum reader. I LOVE this site!

First let me state that I have talked w/ a RE attorney and have taken the first step in resolving this matter. I just wanted to get opinions from other realtor's and people reading this forum while I wait for my response from the sellers and their agent. I also wanted to share my story with others who may be in a similar situation.

After purchasing my current home we experienced a problem with the WELL with in the first week of living in the home. We lost water for up to 6 hours.

NOTE: Sellers upfront offered to pay for and provide water, well, septic, termite, and HVAC inspections at the time of the first offer. We were not present during those inspections but it is understood the sellers realtor was. We did not ask for this in our offer and it was a shock to us they offered it with their counter offer yet there were no red flags as it is a buyers market here and their home had been on the market almost a year.

I called the company on the well cap and found out that there was TWO previous failed inspections on this home having to do with the water running out during the inspections. This well company tells me sellers took steps to "fix" problem but to their knowledge was unsuccessful and the buyers backed out of the deal. (This is later confirmed to us after the purchase of the home that they backed out b/c they couldn't put in a hot tub or whirlpool tub.)

We contacted the sellers agent and she came out to the home and had another well company take a look at the well. They couldn't find anything "wrong". The sellers Realtor proceeds to inform my husband and I that there were indeed failed inspections BUT the sellers thought they "fixed" the problem. (Fix = lowering pump 10 ft and installing a continuous flow pump w/ sensor to detect low water level so it will shut off w/o burning up.) She also goes on to state that she believes sellers are willing to put money on the table to fix the issue. She also stated that during those failed inspections the inspector opened ALL or several faucets at once while testing the septic and thus resulting in the WELL loosing water. On the 2nd inspection she asked the inspector NOT to open all faucets at once and the inspector proceeded with his inspection by opening more than once faucet once again resulting in the loss of water. This caused the buyers to back out. Home was on the market almost a year when we purchased. Two failed inspections happened 6 months prior to our purchase.

My husband and I spent some time trying to trouble shoot the problem but we are unsure of exactly what the problem is other than the well is a low producing slow recovery rate well. The only fix is drill another well and hope we get a better producing well at the cost of $5000 plus or hook up to city water which is about 1000 ft away and per the sellers realtor they looked into this and it was quoted to them to cost up to $20,000.

We have made many phone calls to the inspectors and well companies along with doing some research to see where we stand and so forth.

Let me state that our disclosure form states the following:
"Well is 138' deep-water level is 27' - Grundfos variable speed constant pressure pump system. Flow rate 1.3 gallon of water per ft. Meaning well has 101 gallons of STG above the pump."
Well is also checked as "Not defective".

My husband and I believe that there is no way the previous sellers never lost water and that the offer to pay for the well, septic, termite, HVAC was a way for the sellers agent to control the inspection to only allow the inspectors to open one faucet at a time (confirmed this w/ the realtor and inspectors). We have lost water on an average of 3-5 times a week. We will return from working 8hrs days to find that there is no water and we hadn't even been home to us any water all day. We do suspect a regenerating water softener could be the culprit of the loss of water during those times. We have had the water run out on us in the middle of 6 showers. We are forced to shower as quickly as possibly every time we shower with showers NEVER lasting more than 10-15 mins. When washing laundry we worry that the wash may run out of water and we never know it and the same with the dishwasher. We haven't been able to enjoy the home as we had anticipated when we purchased it.

In the end of all this I must say that my husband and I would not have purchased the home under these conditions. We wouldn't have even asked for a price reduction. We also feel that there was some deception and our attorney agreed. The sellers realtor stated she assumed by stating what was on the disclosure was all that was needed. Our attorney seems to think that the failed inspections should have been mentioned along with the issues of running out of water.

At this point I do not know what to expect from the sellers and their agent. Our agent is involved and we feel she is at no fault and had no prior knowledge of the issues.

Any input/advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
DIY