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vice caché in newly bought house
We bought a house in September and were never told up the purchase by the estate agent or the owner that the basement floods slightly when there is a lot of rain. When we were about to move in the vendor brought us on a personal tour of the house. There was some water in the basement and he said "oh yes, when it rains there can be water in the basement" and it has since flooded a few times, one time covering quite a substantial area, although not very deep. The boiler is also located where it floods and a new one was installed by the previous owner very recently and I'm guessing the old one may have gotten flooded. Do you think this was a vice caché and should we contact a notaire? Does anybody out there have any experience in this regard? TIA
Don't pursue it they will say they told you Its me of those it's a quirk of the house things.
I have a friend who bought a house discovered after the notaire was friends of the vendors. Half the house was illegal no plans etc terrible construction . she tried to push it through the court but ultimately lost and it cost her money and then more to put the construction right.
Just get a pump and don't stroke stuff on the floor. Sorry
Store not storke
You can always go to a lawyer and consult the matter with a lawyer; notaires aren't much help in these type of matters. We had a problem when we bought the apt and our supposedly good notaire, dismissed the matter; however, out of curiosity, we enquired with a lawyer, and the advice given was completely different; then we contacted the notaire with the lawyers advice and his response was, oh yes, yes, indeed, something can be done about it. The consultation with the lawyer is always free, and you can go to as many as you want to get your mind at ease that either nothing can be done about it, or that maybe something can be done about it, but at least you know you had the legal advice and not that somebody on these forums told you to give up.
With respect to the last comment my friend did take legal advice courts involved all that happen was she was out of pocket big time, because she couldn't prove she didn't know about the poor construction, no plans etc. If a lawyer is free then ok visit, but in Belgium it's buyer beware I'm afraid.
If it happens regularly, as you suggest, there would have been tell-tale signs. It was your responsibility to look for them before making an offer to buy.
It isn't unusual for cellars to get some water in them in wet weather, and, even to flood slightly when there is exceptional rainfall - and that seems to be just what you are describing. The boiler should be mounted on a thin concrete plinth to minimise any effects of water ingress.
you have to claim within 2 years of moving in. if eg the cellar had been painted to hide earlier flooding then you could have a claim. if the signs of flooding were there, forget it.
we went to court 3 years ago, so far we have paid 14000 euro in expenses but expect to get the money back plus a small profit, but it might take another 2 years. average time for a claim like this is 5-7 years. so if you think it is worth the hassle, have cash in the bank, and a lawyer thinks you have a claim by all means.
This isn't a vice cache. You'll have no claim whatsoever on the previous owner.
In order to have some claim on the seller, the buyer needs to prove that the seller knew about the problem and DELIBERATELY concealed the problem from you.
Clearly in this case, you were aware of the problem before you bought the house, the owner showed you the problem, did nothing to hide it, and he even told you "when it rains there can be water in the basement".
Basement flooding is actually a very common problem. Rather than have endless stress and waste your money and time on a fruitless legal adventure, call a builder and install a small sump somewhere in the basement, with an automatic pump. It'll fix the problem and add value to your house.
Take a look here for ideas:
https://www.google.com/search?q=install+basement+sump&biw=2133&bih=1072&...
Well at least they did tell you, I run a dehumidifier in my cellar on top of a crate, it seems to keep it dry. We only get a tiny seep when very wet and the last owner omitted to mention it but we don't worry. They had built a small brick area to contain must have known where it seeps in. Maybe you can try this.
Personally I think the way the law is here you will struggle and end up out of pocket. I'd suggest dealing with the issue and just store all items off the floor.
In a house we rented we had several inches of foul back wash from the sewer come in wreck whole basement, washer blew up vacuum cleaner the works rang terrible land lady response floods are. Or all in the Ardennes!
Sufficient to say after that all electrical equipment Christmas docs etc were raised up on blocks and so when it happened again we didn't have same issue.
All the best.
Ophs should read normal in the Ardennes! We don't live in the Ardennes.
