Yikes!

Something doesn't make sense. How did all of this go unnoticed in that one inspection and why on earth does a someone NOT insist on a new inspection?? There may be fraud involved with the sellers and RE agent but there is also idiocy on the part of the buyers.

Somebody really dropped their due diligence ball.
The sellers "said" they fixed everything and you drop 3whatever million without an inspection to verify that all repairs were done correctly as claimed?
You see water flowing everywhere and believe the guy when he claims it never happened before?

Wow.

The buyer wasn't wise, however, the sellers weren't forthcoming about obvious, serious problems. I wish the story had delved a bit more into the reasons why the home deteriorated so much.

I could almost see if this was an OLD house, but it was apparently built in 1994! Clearly, construction was total crap, and I would not anticipate so many issues on a luxury home that new.

I do think all parties are at fault.

There was a similar case in our city between two prominent families. The house was a lovely big thing on a fabulous lot that everyone knew, at least on sight. The outcome of the settlement included a zipped lip clause, and them that knows how it turned out ain't sayin'.

My cohorts and I rose above our burning but unseemly desire to ferret it out of somebody, and I'm proud to say I have no idea what happened. But BOY, was I curious! Being such a good girl is a pain...

The buyers are asking for 40 mil!!! They are as much to blame for their poor purchase as the sellers. You never take someone's word for it with such an expensive item. I would have sided more with the buyers if they were asking for a reasonable amount, but the 40mil makes me think they bought with out an inspection with the idea to later profit with a lawsuit. They probally planned this at the time of purchase.

roarah - Interesting angle! The plot thickens . . .

You can check out pictures of the interior and exterior of the home by clicking the photo gallery on the same page as the article.

This is not the first time in the world that windows have leaked.
Few words for the buyers - inspection, fix leaky windows before the problem aggravates.

It's true that the buyers were idiots for agreeing to not do a new inspection, but that doesn't let the sellers off the hook for deliberately covering up defects. That the sellers knew there were serious problems is pretty much confirmed by 1) making it a condition of sale that no new inspection would be done and 2) telling the buyers that there was a competing offer at several price points when there was no such competition. Being led to believe there was a competing offer probably led to the buyers agreeing to no inspection.

Had there been an inspection, would these issues have been discovered? They certainly would have discovered the lie about all the windows being replaced. The rot/mold in the woodwork covered up by caulk/putty, and new paint would probably not have been caught. The swimming pool above the bedroom ceiling would probably not have been caught. If the plywood covering the basement drains was covered by flooring or whatever, that would also not be detected by a standard home inspection. If all the water marks on the basement walls were visible, that should have been noticed. That the PO's knew of these issues is clear from the cover-ups. Who has a rubber liner installed in a ceiling? Clearly a big problem. Who has wood that looks like this

and covers it over with putty and paint? Who doesn't notice that water pours down the inside of the windows in heavy rain? CA has laws about this sort of thing, but maybe this state doesn't. The worst is knowingly letting a family move in where the POs knew or should have known that there was significant mold in the walls. That's unforgivable.

Hmmmmmmm I smell a rat, or two. ;o)

Is it 50mil unforgivable?

I'm curious as to how things deteriorated so rapidly and why the builder wasn't on the hook for this in the beginning. Also, mold is an extreme health hazard, so it certainly ramps up the case beyond the structure itself.

Roarah - $50M unforgivable? Those are just numbers. It's my understanding that first a jury hears the csse and decides if what the plaintiffs say is true, mostly true, a little true, or they're nut jobs. "Nut jobs" is a legal term for sure. If they find for the plaintiff in any degree, then they choose a number, which if excessive, usually gets knocked down closer to reasonable by a judge. The plaintiffs can name any old number they want. What they get (or don't) is an entirely different matter. I suspect the high asking number in this case is meant to also cover loss of income due to health issues. Pretty sure Dad's income is very comfy, so a high number is more reasonable than it sounds right off.

Unforgivable is the act of deliberately putting the buyers at risk of serious health issues, not all of which are reversible. Legally, a number will be attached. Morally, I think they're toast.

That was an interesting read early this am. ($50M does seem a lot for aggravating crones's disease.)

Couple hours later while DH & I drove around our (hopefully) future neighborhood eying the vintage houses, he sez, "so, we are going to put an inspection contingency on any offer, right.?"

Uh, yeah.

I find my lack of sympathy disturbing.

Fori, I know what you mean - but if the story were exactly the same, except to knock a decimal point off all the numbers, I 'm sure you'd feel much more sympathetic.

Being rich doesn't mean you know everything, nor does it mean your woes are necessarily any less woeful.

Whoa. My son has Crohn's disease. A pox upon anyone who causes him to flare up. It is a vicious, miserable disease.

They were cheated. I hope they collect.

The extra decimal point means they should have been 10x more interested in getting a proper inspection. I'm sure it's a mess but we don't know that the sellers did anything wrong (the article was somewhat more sympathetic for the buyers and not representing all relevant points of view) but come on!

Even us poor people get inspections when we buy stuff. And if we want a house with a "no inspection" provision, we walk or we accept that it's probably trashed.

Pretty house though!

Sherrmann, sorry if I implied Crohn's disease is a minor affliction. It is not.