I bought a rental property about 6 weeks ago and everything seemed fine during the inspection. However, my new tenants just moved in a week ago and when they used the dishwasher, it flooded the kitchen. Now, after having a leak detector check it out, there are three different water leaks they've discovered: one from the dishwasher water line, one where the faucet had no sealing, and another from the refrigerator water line. Can I hold the previous owner or the home inspector responsible for this? It feels too coincidental for all these leaks to pop up just after the tenants moved in. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
4 Answers
Ultimately, the inspector usually bears responsibility, but it sounds like fixing it might be the best route and just moving on from this. If the water was off before your tenants moved in, those leaks wouldn't have shown up. If the dishwasher was actually tested, it would have leaked during the inspection if it was a problem then, so that’s something to consider too.
You might want to consult a lawyer about this. Generally, to go after the previous owner, you'd need to prove they were aware of the issues. In rare cases, people have successfully done this—like when they found an email showing the owner knew about serious defects. As for the inspector, their liability is usually capped at the fee you paid them, and if the leaks weren’t obvious, they might not be at fault either.
I doubt you can pursue the previous owner. As for the inspector, there might be a case, but it's often limited to the inspection cost. Did the power and water run during the inspection? If the water was off, they couldn't test the appliances, which could have missed any leaks. Remember, only leaks in visible spots count unless there were clear signs earlier.
A good inspector should run appliances, so if they skipped that, you might have some ground. But if they did test the dishwasher and it was fine, then a claim could be tougher. Just make sure about the whole timeline—if any issues occurred before your inspection or final walkthrough, that could change things.