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not1035 · Apr 8, 2010, 10:35 AM

I sold a home I owned in Bakerfield. CA in summer of 2007. Before I sold the house, I had a contractor take off the wood shake roof and replace it with composition tile. The new owner is now threatening to sue me because there was an installation error made by my contractor that is going to cost approx. $1500.00 to repair. The contractor is now out of business and I cannot find a receipt for the job. Also, when the contractor pulled the permit, he listed the job as being completed by the "owner." The buyer paid for a home inspection so I can't see how I can be held responsible if I didn't know there was a problem with the roof. Can they go after the inspector? Do I have any liability in this now almost three years later?

RickJ · Apr 8, 2010, 10:40 AM

Yes, you can be sued... for anything... but in this case I think they'd not have a case - presuming that you did not hide anything when selling the home.

Did you, when you sold the home, fill out a "disclosure" form where you were to indicate any problems? If so, and again presuming you completed it honestly, then you should have no problems.

Whether they can go after the inspector or not is of no consequence to you.

ebaines · Apr 8, 2010, 10:46 AM

Sure they can sue you - the question is whether they would win. I don't think so. Three years is a long time, and unless they can show that you intentionally mislead them or committed fraud in the sale of the house, it's "buyer beware." Check the wording of the sales contract that you and the buyer signed back in 2007 - I bet it says the house is sold "as is" (unless you had some specific contingencies). The one issue here that may be problematic is the permit - if the work was done without proper permit it could be a concern.

not1035 · Apr 8, 2010, 12:31 PM

Thank you for your responses. I hired a licensed contractor for the roof, but apparently when he pulled the permit, he pulled it as the "owner" who was completing the work. So the proper permit was issued, it just wasn't issued in my name. It may be that the contractor did a poor job, but it definitely wasn't something I was aware of or I would have corrected it with him before I sold the home. The contractor is of course out of business now and we're unable to get a hold of him, so they're coming after me. Thanks for your responses.

not1035 · Apr 8, 2010, 12:34 PM

Typing error in the above... The permit WAS issued in my name for my property, it just should have listed the contractor as the one completing the job.