My husband and I purchased our first home in Indianapolis, In in May of this year (2005). After living there for 3 weeks, water from the shower and washer started backing up on the basement floor from the drain. Called a plumber, he came out and pulled massive amounts of roots from main sewer line from house to street. He said the original clay sewer pipe in front of the house is breaking apart and will be $4000-$5000 :( to correct. I know the seller had to have known this-he told us in closing to put anything we stored in the basement on skids "just in case" and showed us a receipt where he had mold damage corrected in the past there in the basement.
Roots do not grow that large overnight. I am 100% sure he had to have known about this when he sold the home to us. This had to have happened in the past. Being first time buyers, we assumed when he said there was mold in the basement once, that maybe the window had leaked.
Is there anything I can do in this situation?
Thanks in advance.

Most real estate contracts require all major systems to be operational unless disclosed to the buyer. On the other hand, routering out old sewer lines is routine maintenance. If the system is in as bad of shape as the plumber says it is, I think the seller is obligated to fix it. The plumber may be a little more credible than an excavation contractor.

If you had a lawyer at closing, call him. He should at least point you on where to go now without additional charge. You may need to pay for additional services before this is over.

In many cases, it is better to fix a problem than let it go. You may end up paying to fix it after you lived with it for years and then sold the house. At that time, you have little control over what is done and who does it.