Common Causes of Real Estate Litigation

If you are buying a home in Texas, you most likely work with a realtor, a title company, and the previous owners. You may even hire repair service providers for negotiated repairs. However, if anyone you work with chooses to misinform or defraud you deliberately, you may find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit. So let’s look at common causes of real estate litigation and prevent your most significant investment from being the object of a courtroom battle.

Breach of Duty

If you hire someone to do work for you, you expect a certain level of professionalism, that their work is good. However, sometimes we trust someone who we should not. 

For example, let’s say you hire a real estate agent who is long-time friends with the owner of the home you are buying. If the agent does not disclose the relationship and then advises you to bid higher for the home to get more money for the friend, this is a breach of duty. If you later overhear a conversation with the owner that makes their relationship clear, you might file a lawsuit for breach of duty. 

A plan to defraud you is more than a breach of duty. For example, if the court finds that your agent pocketed an extra $15,000 in a criminal conspiracy to extort money from your home purchase, the agent could face criminal prosecution.

Negligence

If your real estate agent does not know the law or ignores the proper protocols for their duties, you could have a problem. The agent might advise you in a way that costs you time and money. 

For example, let’s say your agent orders a mold test for the home you want to buy. He never receives the results back from the mold inspector but does not check on the test results. So you buy the home thinking all is good and find out later that the house needs mold remediation. The original mold testing showed the issues clearly, but your agent never followed up. In this case, you could file a lawsuit for negligence.

The agent did not do his job and glossed over an essential factor in your decision-making process for buying a home. 

Breach of Contract

Most contracts to buy real estate involve the buyer putting down earnest money at the beginning of a contract period. The earnest money shows that the buyer is serious about purchasing. However, if the buyer changes their mind about the home and terminates the contract, they often lose the earnest money. 

But what happens when you put down the earnest money and keep your end of a buyer’s contract and the seller reneges and sells to someone else? Depending on the contract’s wording, you have the right to sue for damages or for the right to buy the home.

You can often avoid these types of misunderstandings and failures to honor a contract with the help of an attorney going through any agreements before everyone signs. When language is ambiguous, it often encourages non-compliance with the contract. 

Non-Disclosure

When a seller knows that their home has a problem and keeps it a secret, you as a buyer may pay more for a house than what it is worth. In addition, you may suffer damages due to the problem with the home. 

For example, let’s say a home seller knows that he did not encapsulate lead paint on a door. Perhaps you sand the door after moving and inhale paint dust particles. A visit to the doctor confirms lead poisoning so you test the paint on the door. It is lead-based paint from 1973. In this case, you could sue the owner for non-disclosure. If the owner painted that door himself in 1973 with lead-based paint and knew the danger but did not disclose the information to you, that is grounds for a non-disclosure lawsuit. 

As a buyer, if you can prove that the seller knew about a defect, or as a reasonable person, should have known about it yet purposefully concealed it, and you suffered loss because of it, you have grounds for a lawsuit.

We Are On Your Side

At Jarrett Law, we come alongside you in the most significant investment you will make in this life, your home. We specialize in real estate issues such as breach of contract and non-disclosure. Whether you need help fine-tooth combing through a potential contract or are already looking at a potential lawsuit, we can help. Our experience and dedication to upholding real estate law for your rights is our strength. Contact us today and find out how we can help you.