Hi all. I’m in the Bay Area.

    We closed in summer and moved in about a month later. After the first rain event post-move-in, we found a significant amount of water on the interior floor. In hindsight, there may have been an earlier sign of moisture during a pre-move visit, but at the time it wasn’t clear what the source was (we hadn’t moved in yet).

    During roof repair later, the roofer opened the roof around a penetration and found wet/rotted decking and saturated materials that look consistent with longer-term moisture intrusion (not just a one-time event). I have photos from the repair and invoices.

    Pre-sale inspections:

    General home inspection was done in dry weather and didn’t report active leaks.

    Separate roof inspection noted prior repairs and said the roof appeared functional.

    Seller disclosures: no mention of leaks/water intrusion (as far as I can tell).

    A realtor (not our agent) mentioned this could potentially be a nondisclosure situation. I’m not looking for formal legal advice, just trying to sanity-check next steps before speaking to a real estate litigation attorney.

    Questions:

    1. Does this sound like a plausible nondisclosure/misrepresentation case in CA?

    2. What evidence tends to matter most?

    3. What should I do right now to preserve evidence and avoid mistakes?

    Thanks in advance.

    Bay Area post-close roof leak. Discovered rotten decking
    byu/SkyDizzy1048 inRealEstate



    Posted by SkyDizzy1048

    5 Comments

    1. How long did the previous owners live in the home? Inspector mentioned previous repairs – was this brought up with the sellers?

    2. Highly unlikely you’ll be able to get anything.

      I bought my house in SF, inspection showed there was some ponding but the roof was fine. First rain storm about a month after I close on the place, multiple leaks in the roof, water pouring in the house. Obviously been happening for a while.

      I ended up paying for a new roof. It’s next to impossible to prove the sellers knew ahead of time, and it’ll cost you more than the roof to sue them anyways.

    3. This is why you do a full inspection not the regarded buy online during COVID 💩. Now they all trying to pass problem properties to suckers.

      Let them keep their 2-3% loan and rent it out. Don’t buy others problems

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