Is selling a house with undisclosed known faults illegal

[hoverfrog]

[quote user="Steve"]Faults Many things, too numerous to list here but the main ones are;

The Roof Timbers & Lathes which were ALL covered up on the inside with Plaster Board.

Huge Structural Cracks in walls also recently covered up on the inside with Plaster Board & Rendered over on the outside.

Foul Water Waste Piped into a nearby stream.

New Wooden Floors Laid over existing Rotten & Wood worm invested ones.

So basically the previous owner intentionally cover up all the faults in order to sell. Just wondered if I had any chance of recourse.

Cheers

Steve

[/quote]

I think you are on dodgy ground trying to claim, but that's just my opinion.

The bigger the outlay to buy, the more you investigate before signing. If you chose to buy a château without asking yourself why recent works were done - or having it surveyed - then that was your decision, which you have to live with.

The ex-owners are not obliged to tell you anything (AFAIK) - you have the 7 day period to digest the obligatory surveys while you decide to buy or not after the compromis de vente to change your mind in, and after that you buy or don't.

You may be kicking yourself now for not spending out on a UK-style survey, but I don't think that that is their problem - just yours. One of the paragraphs in the compromis de vente - and the acte de vente - is that you buy the property as it is, in totality, and that you accept that.

Read the small print.

[napoleon]

Steve,

         I expect you are feeling rotten about the behaviour of the seller. You could spend many years chasing him/her for compensation that would probably never materialise. Alternatively you could  put all that energy (and money) into sorting out the problems to create the wonderful chateau that you imagined you were buying.

     We certainly found undisclosed problems when buying our house in France and also had to come to terms with the fact we were lied to by the owners and the Notair. After the initial shock we adjusted to our mistaken trust in others and discovered the joy of living in the house and getting to know the local community. We are very pleased with the results.

  I hope you are able to enjoy your chateau in Allier.

 Alistair

[mint]

I have to agree with Hoverfrog.

An opinion from an informed professional would have taken in the recent works and either alarm bells would have rung or at least you would have asked the appropriate questions of the vendor.

Certainly, in the UK, if there is a lot of  recent redecoration, etc. your Surveyor would have pointed out that the redecoration could be an attempt to hide defects.  You would then have to establish whether the attempt is deliberate or whether the vendor was only trying to smarten up the property for sale.

It would have been up to you to decide which it is and whether to decide to proceed to purchase.  As I have said before and I repeat here Caveat Emptor.