We purchased our home just under a year ago. Had a full inspection including pests. Nothing was really found, except for a couple leaky windows in the basement. Immediately after closing, and throughout the past year we have found:

sagging beams in foundation
sagging floor in dining room
rotted floor in kitchen, which was the result of numerous leaks from kitchen sink
leaking roof in kitchen (covered up by a spraypaint of white paint)-which we came home to find that it had completely leaked through everything into kitchen
carpenter ant/termite problem in kitchen roof/ceiling
leaking roof in 2 of 3 bedrooms


There are so many other "little" things that those don't even bother me compared to what we are dealing with on the above. It seems everytime we get one thing taken care of, another thing "happens". We tried to just fix them and move on, but the costs are becoming unbearable. We were first time home buyers, and lacked the smarts to look deeper for these types of problems, which we know is our fault. It was a good situation blinded by bad aspects. We qualified for a large grant, but only had 30 days to be in contract to receive it. These were quite obviously known problems that were covered up by the previous owners, and most should have been caught by a good home inspector. It really didn't take digging for us to uncover these problems, just started noticing things.

We feel that the previous owners, and their realtor purposefully hid these things. That the inspector should have caught some of this, instead he gave us a 100% report! We also got a grant through our city that is HUD based, and they were supposed to do a rigourous inspection of their own, and gave us a 100% report as well. I'm not being extreme, at least some of these items should have been caught.

We are in NYS. Has anyone experienced this, and tried to take some recourse after almost a year? I know it's a long shot. After we found the ssagging foundation, and floors we had called the inspector back out as it was right after the closing, and all he did was jump on the floor and said "it seems pretty solid to me" and recommended we put some jacks up...We're a single income family of 5, and have no idea what to do to repair the current carpenter ant/termite, leaking problem that has been uncovered on the kitchen roof. UGH, makes me feel ill!

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If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! The're about to announce the lottery numbers... - Homer Simpson

Wow, I think I'd be going after somebody! What does your contract with the inspector say? I think I'd be calling my realtor, as well. According to some of the websites I found, a lot of it depends on the state you live in. I found this on CNN Money:

5. Hold the inspector liable for missed problems. Inspection contracts tend to be minimalist documents, but they contain one critical piece of information: the inspector's liability if he fails to discover an existing problem with the house or property. In many cases, liability is limited to the cost of the inspection.

So if you paid $300 for the service, that's what the inspector is obliged to reimburse you, even if you turn up a $3,000 problem the day after you move in.

Faced with this situation, you can protect yourself by hiring an inspector who carries insurance that covers not only damage to the property during the inspection but also losses due to "errors and omissions."

To lock in those protections, it's vital that the contract call for binding arbitration. With litigation so expensive -- and, in the case of a small contractor like a home inspector, not likely to be particularly rewarding -- arbitration is the best way to safeguard your interests.

A year isn't that long for all these things to be happening. Have you been taking pictures of all the problems and keeping receipts?

I hope you can get some sort of help on this one.

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