[shannon_elaine]

At the end of April my husband and I bought a house under a contract for deed. The seller told us that he owned the property free and clear, which we have found was not true. He has a mortgage on the house through Wells Fargo. Can he even sell the house this way? I tried calling them to ask but since our name is not on the loan he has, they wouldn't answer my questions.

Our first two weeks here we had no heat or hot water. All of the copper tubing going from the propane tank to the house had been cut and pulled out. The gas company found that when they came to fill the tank, do a leak test, and light the pilots. Getting that dealt with cost us about $800.00 and we still have no heat available. The furnace has an interior leak and has been red tagged and locked by the propane company. Response from the seller has been "Oh well...."

The roof is leaking, to the point that water comes out of an electric outlet in the kichen and pools on the counter. So we're looking at $3000-$5000 for the roof.

About three weeks ago, the a/c quit. The compressor is frozen up. Replacing the a/c and furnce is going to run about $5000.00 for us. We're dealing with the a/c right now by using window units and they only barely do the job. But we're going to need heat in just a short time.

Again, the seller has blown it off. In fact, just this morninghe had this to say to me:

your options are to "chin up" or move out.

i will not wait days for the reply. i will wait until thursday then submit the court documents.

the home is a good home. all homes need something. that home needs a minor roof repair? than fix it. if the pipe has a leak in it? than fix it. you are not a renter. i can loan you some tools and explain the know-how. i can even get one or two of the guys within our "network" (the other people who've bought homes from me, who have the experience needed) to come over and fix it for you if you don't want to learn for yourself.

i have a roofer
i have a plumber
i have 2 old ac/furnace guys (no longer in the network but would help very reasonably i'm sure)

all could patch/fix or what ever to make the problems serviceable

Doesn't he have any sort of responsibility in all this? This stuff was all broken before we bought the house, unfortunately no utilities were on so it could be checked, but it seems to me that he should be partly responsible. Does MO have a lemon law on real estate?

He hasn't notified the mortgage company about the "sale" of the house to us so isn't he basically renting to us really? These things are all things that need to be fixed ASAP and can't really be put off, but we certainly don't have $10,000 or more lying around to do it.

It just seems to me that he should have some liability here other than threatening eviction because I want him to take some responsibility for issues that existed before we moved in.

[shannon_elaine]

PS

OH and I also forgot to include that the showers, tubs, and toilets all are flooding the basement when they're used. This means human excrement coming up the basement drain and all over the floor.

[ScottGem]

First, you should have had a home inspection done before entering into a contract. Second, the fact that he has a mortgage is not really of concern to you. As long as the contract states that he will convey clear title to you upon satisfaction of the contract, then you are protected.

Since he hasn't "sold" the house to you (yet), he still retains title so the mortgage holder doesn't really care.

As to what you are responsible for in terms of repairs, read the contract. Most likely the contract states that you will be responsible.

You can try suing him claiming that he concealed the problems and stripped the home. You can either sue for the return of anything you have paid so you can walk away or sue him for the cost of the repairs.

What you can't do is stop making payment or he can say you reneged on the contract and find you in breach.