We bought a condo that had been lived in by the owner for a couple of years or so. We purchased it in June of this year 2010, and had an inspection (in the summer) and had not used the fireplace seeing that it was summer. The inspector was here when it was 90 and the windows and doors were open, because this was closed up.

Now, November, it turned cold and we used the fireplace only to find what seemed to be a leak, so we shut it off. Tried again a day or so later, this was just a few days ago and we have called a fireplace person.

Now a fireplace person has to come on Tuesday to see if he can fix it. What now? And who is responsible?

Thanks,
Marie

The fireplace should have been inspected and written uup in the report. What did he have to say back then? If he said it was in working order then he may have some liability. You ca't go after the owner unless you could prove they knew there was a problem. Tell me what you mean by "what seemed to be a leak"

That is a bad phrase for we were pretty sure we smelled gas.. Next time it stayed on a little longer, five minutes maybe and we KNEW there was a strong smell, we opened the window and called Public Service. The second time we were certain.

Ok, so this is a gas fireplace, not a wood burning one? In that case, there is no way to prove that the previous owner was aware of the leak or that it did not happen afterward. Its possible some corrosion has caused the leak.

It also should not be too expensive to fix.

Tell us more, was gas confirmed and is this a gas fireplace or was it a log ignitor?