Recourse for Buyer Who
Finds Faults in 'As Is' Home?

Question: I am 28 and purchased a home "as is" in May. As I was doing some upgrades, I had the city inspect a power-panel upgrade. The inspector noticed the garage conversion and a covered patio that didn't receive city permits. These were built before I purchased the house and I was not told of the permit issues. The inspector called the power company and told it to not connect the power until the conversion and the patio were permitted and brought up to code. Contractors I've contacted say it will cost around $30,000. I don't have the money. Do you have any advice?

-- Daniel Rivas, Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Daniel: Many homes, if not most, are sold "as is." In some places, "as is" is included within the standard boilerplate in real-estate contracts. The language simply means that the seller won't be making any improvements and is selling the house in its current physical condition. Fair enough, since most homes accumulate some wear and tear over the years.

But when sellers sell homes "as is," that doesn't give them the right to foist hidden problems on you, which is why the law in California, and most other states, requires sellers to give you a Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement. Anything wrong with a house that you couldn't easily discover on your own, including work done without permits, must be listed on this form -- so take a look at it now. If the sellers disclosed the illegal garage conversion and patio, you're out of luck -- you were properly forewarned. But if they didn't, you may be able to sue them to recover the costs of the repairs. Check with a local real-estate attorney to discuss your options.

Unfortunately, though you quite properly had the city inspect your power-panel upgrade before you moved in, it sounds as if you didn't hire a professional home inspector to look at the house before you purchased it. Hiring a home inspector isn't required by law, but I strongly recommend that every buyer do so, even when buying a new home. The cost usually runs around $300 and helps protect buyers from expensive situations like yours. Any competent inspector would have noticed that parts of your house weren't up to code and would have been able to alert you before you bought it, even if these items weren't listed on the disclosure statement. And if the inspector wasn't competent and simply overlooked the code violations, his or her errors and omissions insurance would cover your costs.

-- June Fletcher is a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal and the author of "House Poor" (Harper Collins, 2005). Her "House Talk" column appears most Mondays on RealEstateJournal.com. Email your questions about the residential real-estate market. Please include your name, city and state. If you don't want your name used in our column, please indicate that. Due to volume of mail received, we regret that we cannot answer every question.

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