Hello 1/2 bathroom
Be careful what you read here because the people here do not usually
litigate, look at case law and also go to the city and get permits
or get permits for illegal work done and so on an so forth
I have done all the above.
Forget what the RE agent said above and ask him for the actual court
case file and look it up.
Ok here is what I have personally experienced in CA but be careful because
here in CA they really protect the homebuyer and have some of the best
laws in place for this.
If the RE agent Listed and stated something that was in the house or done
to the house that was incorrect and he knew it > it is Fruad PERIOD
Look here in CA RE law > obvious that the above posters have not read this
and many other states have similar laws in place
http://www.dre.ca.gov/pdf_docs/re6.pdf
If the buyer or sellers Agent represent to you that the house is 1900 SQFT
when it is not say 1600 SQFT or that the 1/2 bath is part of the house
or that the addition (SQFT) is part of the house ie they put it into the
MLS they are stating that this is the true condition of the house.
It is not really up to you to go and figure out if this is true or correct
because THEY ARE STATING IT IS!!!!!!
And by the way if you have a RE agent that represented you he shuold
have gone down to the city planning dept and found any problems with
the house> bet he did not!!!! Good he is liable also for he is your agent!!!!
You paid him to do this!!!! And he did not protect you so if you do
file a complaint with your states AG office also include him.
However next time go to you city planning Dept and pull the street
file and LOOK AT ALL PERMITS on the house. Just because the permit
was pulled though for this work does not mean it was DONE PROPERLY
that is why you have an INSPECTOR look at this work to determine
if it was done properly!!!! Your RE agent should have done all this
and then had the inspector inspect the 1/2 bathroom (that had
no permits and then put that in his inspection report)
By the way inspectors should be looking for this also and if
he did not have the illegal 1/2 bathrroom in his report
he also maybe in trouble but the bottom line ends with
the owner and his RE agent.
However the Listing RE BROKER and even more the Seller have an
obligation to disclose to you the buyer ANY visual and obvious
negative about the house AND NOT STATE TO YOU FALSE
FACTS ABOUT THE HOUSE like an illegal bathroom addition!!!
If it is not then they have got a real problem at least in CA.
Now go to case law for your state> just go down to your local
law library at a school or county seat and pull the cases that
cover this.
However you need not go there just file a complaint with your
states AG office and typically they will go after the party like
a rabid dog!!!
And yes here in CA if you try to get a permit for the 1/2 bath depending
on your city > you most likely will have to rip it out and start over
at worse or at best get a permit and then go thru the permit process
for building and inspection!!!!
I am not a lawyer and the above is not advice it is just what I have been thru
personally.
SKI