Head Murphy Law secured a $65,000 arbitration award for our clients against a previous homeowner who fraudulently misrepresented ongoing basement water intrusion issues.
Our clients entered into a purchase agreement for a home in Oakland County, Michigan. The agreement included a seller’s disclosure statement requiring the seller to reveal any known foundation or water-related problems. The seller claimed the home had flooded only once and that no ongoing issues existed.
Shortly after moving in, however, our clients discovered severe water seepage through cracks in the basement foundation floor, flooding the finished areas—a nightmare scenario for any new homeowner.
Retaining our firm, the clients pursued arbitration against the seller for violating the Michigan Seller Disclosure Act (SDA) by failing to disclose these persistent issues.
Our investigation uncovered records from a service company that had addressed the home’s water intrusion problems nearly annually under the seller’s ownership. The seller had chosen not to fully remedy the defects and omitted this history from the disclosure.
At the arbitration hearing, the seller admitted to the fraudulent misrepresentations, acknowledging the service records and confirming annual springtime seepage through the basement cracks. As a result, the arbitrator awarded our clients $65,000 in damages—a significant victory in holding the seller accountable.