How You Can Avoid Misrepresenting Your Home When Selling It
When you are selling your home, you will likely be inviting a lawsuit if you do not hire a real estate attorney to assist you. After purchasing a home, some buyers discover that the home wasn't what they expected, and they then seek to sue you over misrepresenting the property. You may accidentally misrepresent your property, which is why you need the help of an attorney.
Taking Misleading Photos
Something as simple as editing a photo can lead to you being accused of misrepresenting a property. If you use a photo editing program to improve the appearance of your property and edit the photo too much, the plaintiff may use this as evidence that you were attempting to misrepresent your property. If you hire a professional photographer, he or she will be able to take pictures that can cast your home in the best light. However, make it clear that you are selling your home and that you therefore need the images to not misrepresent your property.
Not Disclosing Your House's Defects
Have your home fully inspected to make sure that there are no defects you weren't aware of. Even if a defect forms that you haven't discovered yet, this defect can be used to argue that you were misrepresenting your home. If there is a legitimate reason that you didn't know your home had a defect, you may need the assistance of a real estate attorney to help you argue this case. As an example, if you do not spend winter in your home, you may not know that your basement leaks in the winter. If you do discover a defect and hire a contractor to repair the defect, but the contractor doesn't properly fix the defect, you would likely not be held liable because there would be no way for you to know that the repair failed.
Not Examining The Details Of Your Home With An Attorney
You may represent your property in a certain way that is inaccurate, as detailed by documents in your possession that you failed to read. You might have a document that explains that your property does not actually extend to the area where you built a gazebo. But if you fail to disclose this to the buyer, you might be accused of fraud. Your attorney will investigate the details that you intend to include in your property listing and verify that they are accurate before you list your property.
