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Home buyer's roof inspection skipped casita. Then a monsoon storm hit. Who's responsible?

Question: Last year, we purchased a home in Cave Creek with a beautiful guest casita. Two months after we purchased the home, there was a monsoon storm. To cut to the chase, although we had done a roof inspection, apparently the roof inspection did not include the roof of the guest casita that suffered $30,000 in damages. The roof contractor denies that he was asked to inspect the roof of the guest casita. Our Realtor said he assumed contractor would inspect the casita roof. The seller of the home did not include on the disclosure statement the $4,000 in roof repairs to the guest casita two years earlier. The seller says he simply forgot! Reminds me of the old skit 'Who's on first?' In any event, who should I try to get to pay $30,000 for roof repairs? Shop Top Mortgage Rates Your Path to Homeownership A quicker path to financial freedom Personalized rates in minutes Answer: In analyzing any claim against a seller, contractor or Realtor for damages for non-disclosure of a property defect, we try to answer three questions: liability, amount of damages, and collectability. First, although $30,000 is a large amount of money, a lawsuit will have immediate and significant legal costs. If more than one party is involved, legal costs will go up exponentially. Second, you should hire a lawyer to write demand letters to the Realtor, and to the roof contractor, for reimbursement of the $30,000 for the roof repairs, and hope for some payment. Bottom line: If no positive response comes, forget about the Realtor and the roof contractor who may have defenses to your $30,000 claim. The seller, however, admitted liability as he knew of the prior leak in the roof of the guest casita. Damages are fixed at $30,000 and should be collectible. Under the standard Realtor purchase contract, you and the seller initially would have to go to mediation before a lawsuit. Hopefully, a good mediator will get a settlement for you of at least $15,000-$20,000. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who pays for damages after a missed roof inspection, monsoon storm