Consumption and Real Estate
I need info on home warranty/move in conditions info…anyone has expertise in this area?
Question : I need info on home warranty/move in conditions info…anyone has expertise in this area?
Before purchasing our first home one of the conditions for the seller was to fix outlets in dining room that were shorting/not working. When we moved in some worked, some didnt, and all worked at certain times. I called our home warranty-they had a contracter come out and he fixed a light fixture (which was another issue but not the outlet issue). He tested the outlets with a little machine thing and said it was fine. We explained that YES it is fine at times but they eventually do not work again. AND we told him that we have to run an extension cord from the living room into the kitchen just to run the microwave. He said that he will need to come back to run a whole line for the microwave. Five weeks later after calling our home warranty, they tell us today we have been DENIED. Reasons such as “outlets had to be in working condition (which they were off and on) AND because we had our microwave plugged in and it shut the WHOLE house down, thats OUR fault. O.M.G…really? What now? This can’t be right.
first home warranty
Best answer:
Answer by Peter W
I suspect that a considerable amount of wiring in that house is suspect. And I also suspect that the HOW company is quite worried about a claim. So, call an electrician and explain the situation. Get that electrician to give you an estimate to bring all the problem outlets up to code and also do a complete check of the existing wiring. THEN:
And if your complaint is within one (1) year of having moved in, go to the agent that sold the house _and_ the title company. If they do not help you, seriously, call an attorney. But the agent was most likely instrumental on having the seller purchase the HOW as a peace-of-mind incentive to the buyer. And that agent has a lot to lose if you file a complaint with the local real-estate board on misrepresentation, and the insurance company does not want to lose a source of referrals. So start there. The title company warrants that all the aspects of the house you purchased are accurate – yes, this goes a little beyond pure chain-of-title but they may be helpful.
HOW companies are notorious for making every possible excuse to deny any sort of claim for any reason at all. They are the cockroaches of the insurance industry (with apologies to the insects for the base libel on their characters). You may have to put on your gorilla suit but be persistent. You are in the right. And you are within your rights to approve or choose any contractor that works in your house – you _do not_ have to accept the idiot… err, um electrician they sent the first time.
I have purchased many homes in my lifetime, and I have discovered two facts that are almost universal.
1- The inspection is done, and you give the seller a list of things that need to be fixed before you sign the contract. Invariably, the seller agrees, but does not fix “all” of the things on the list. They will fix major items (like the furnace does not turn on or the roof is leaking) but all those smaller items the inspector finds (many outlets are usually not grounded correctly, polarization is reversed on some outlets, etc.), they will agree to but will not fix. Because they know they have until closing day to fix these and they know on that busy and important day, you will not come back and walk every single little thing on the list. I am not sure how good the inspection does at all in most cases. If there was something major wrong, you’d probably spot it yourself and the seller doesn’t generally fix the smaller things you do find. That’s just my experience buying 4 houses.
2- The homeowner’s warranty is nothing but a hole that you throw your money into. They never cover anything (I’m sure they replaced someone’s heat pump once so they can make that claim) that really needs replacing or fixing. I never never never get suckered into that again. The Realtors are sharks anyhow, so they will tell you they are getting the “seller” to pay for the homeowner’s warranty as a condition of buying the house. But what they do not tell you is that instead of that worthless homeowner’s warranty, they COULD have instead had the seller lower the purchase price by the dollar amount of the warranty (which is usually at least a couple of thousand dollars).
So unless you want to hire a lawyer and head for court, you’re pretty much screwed on your wiring problem. You can sue the seller if you can prove they knew about this situation and didn’t disclose it (which they are required to do – IF your realtor had them complete all the required forms) and you might recover some money for the repair –IF the seller has any money, and you’ll most assuredly have to go through the court system to make that happen.