Any recourse when a listing got the bedroom count and electrical wrong?

Hello Milo, Short Answer: Most MLSs include a consumer disclosure that verifies the information provided. That said, sellers also provide a disclosure. That information is assumed to be accurate as well. Sometimes a problem arises when information presented is intentionally inaccurate. Feel free to call or text with any other questions. Jerry McManus Keller Williams, Sewell, NJ

Milo, there may still be some recourse, especially if the listing represented the property as a 4-bedroom and 200-amp electrical service when those statements were not accurate. Even though your contingencies have expired, I’d first document exactly what was represented in the MLS and marketing, and compare that with the permits, public records, and your inspection findings. I would also have your agent and, if necessary, a California real estate attorney review whether the discrepancy could constitute a material misrepresentation or failure to disclose. I wouldn’t assume that the expiration of your contingencies automatically means you have no options, but I also wouldn’t assume you can force the seller to pay for the upgrades. Before making any decision about closing or walking away, I’d get legal advice because the potential consequences of breaching the contract can be significant.

Milo, being past your contingencies doesn't automatically mean you have to swallow this, but it does change where your leverage sits. A bedroom count and an electrical service are the kind of facts a buyer relies on, so the first thing I'd do is pull the listing as it was advertised and the seller's disclosure form, and see exactly what each one says. Then have an electrician confirm what's actually there, in writing. A 100 amp service and a room that can't legally count as a bedroom can also affect your appraisal and insurance, so loop in your lender now rather than finding out at the closing table. Whether you have a claim against the seller or the listing side is a question for a Pennsylvania real estate attorney, ideally before you close. They'll know what your contract and the state's disclosure rules allow. My license is in California, so a Reading agent should weigh in on the local side too. Alla Novytska, Realtor®, JohnHart Real Estate, DRE #02254775

Milo, depends on local laws but most likely you are out of luck given once you close recourse is limited. You can speak to a legal professional to get a sure fire idea as we are not attorneys but there will most likely be an expense to do so. Good luck. Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Milo, being past your contingencies ends your right to walk away clean. It does not end the seller's exposure, and it does not end your leverage, because you still hold the one thing a seller actually cares about right now: you have not closed yet. Everything below is built around using that window, because it shuts for good on settlement day. First, stop building your case on the MLS listing. Listing sheets in Pennsylvania carry an accuracy disclaimer, and the standard PAR Agreement of Sale contains an integration clause providing that representations made outside the written agreement are not binding on the parties. An opposing attorney will find that language in about thirty seconds. The listing is useful as corroboration. It is not your main exhibit. Your main exhibit is the Seller's Property Disclosure Statement. Under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law, 68 Pa.C.S. 7301 through 7315, the seller had to give you a completed written disclosure before you signed the agreement of sale. Pull your copy and read exactly what the seller wrote about the electrical service and the room count. The seller was never required to go investigate anything, but the seller is not allowed to make a representation they know or have reason to know is false, deceptive or misleading, and 68 Pa.C.S. 7311 provides for actual damages for a willful or negligent violation. That claim has to be brought within two years of closing. If the conduct rises to deception, Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, 73 P.S. 201-1 and following, allows a court to award up to three times actual damages, and in practice the mention of treble damages is what tends to move a seller who is otherwise digging in. I am a real estate professional and not an attorney, so have a Pennsylvania real estate attorney read that disclosure statement alongside you before you send anything in writing. Second, find out which rule makes it a three bedroom, because the fix and the cost are completely different depending on the answer. In Pennsylvania the legal bedroom count usually traces back to one of two places. If the property is on an on-site septic system, the DEP permit rates that system for a specific number of bedrooms and that number is the legal ceiling no matter how many rooms have doors on them. If the property is on public sewer, which most of Reading is, then it is almost always egress or ceiling height under the building code, meaning a room lacks a compliant emergency escape and rescue opening or does not have the required headroom. The septic version can be expensive and occasionally impossible. The egress version is often a larger window and an enlarged opening. Call the City of Reading codes office with the address and ask what the property is on record as. Third, get the electrical priced in writing this week by a licensed electrician who has physically seen the panel and the service run. Going from 100 amp to 200 amp is a normal, solvable job, and the number swings a great deal depending on where the meter sits, how far the run is and whether the utility has to get involved. Do not negotiate against a number you found online, and do not let the seller negotiate against one either. A written bid is a fact, and facts change these conversations. Fourth, and this is the leverage most buyers in your position miss entirely. Your lender's appraiser is going to walk that house and report what is actually there, which is three bedrooms and 100 amp service. If the appraiser's comparable set shifts to three bedroom homes, the value can come in below your contract price, and if it does, your mortgage contingency reopens the entire negotiation even though your inspection contingency is long dead. Those are separate deadlines with separate dates. Go read your agreement of sale right now and confirm whether your mortgage and appraisal contingency dates are still open, because buyers routinely assume that when the inspection window closed everything closed with it, and that is frequently not true. Fifth, there is a pressure point that costs you nothing. If the listing agent published a bedroom count and an electrical service they knew or should have known were wrong, that is potentially a substantial misrepresentation under Pennsylvania's Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act, and the complaint goes to the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission. A Commission complaint will not put money in your pocket, but agents and their brokers take license exposure seriously, and it has a way of making a stalled conversation start moving. One practical note on how you ask. Ask for a seller credit at closing, not for the seller to do the work. A seller who refuses a repair is usually refusing the hassle, the contractor scheduling and the liability, not the money. A credit is a single number on the settlement statement, and sellers say yes to numbers far more often than they say yes to projects. You are in Reading, so I am not your local agent, but if you want help finding a Berks County real estate attorney or a second agent opinion, reach out and I will point you toward someone solid. I am Zoltan Peresztegi, and I represent buyers and sellers on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and across the South Bay here in Los Angeles, where this exact fact pattern comes up more often than anyone would like. Check your mortgage and appraisal contingency dates first, today if you can. That is the piece with a real deadline on it. Zoltan

Milo, there may still be an option worth checking. Did you submit a written request for repairs or a corrective proposal before your inspection period expired? If you did, that may still give you some options even though the original inspection period has expired. The bedroom count and the 100-amp versus 200-amp electrical service are also worth looking into, particularly if that information came from the seller or appears in the seller's disclosure. Since you're this far into the transaction, a Pennsylvania real estate attorney can review the purchase agreement, forms, listing, disclosures and anything submitted during inspections and tell you what rights you still have before closing. Hope that helps. Just a note: this is general real estate information, not legal advice, and it shouldn't be taken as a substitute for advice from a licensed attorney who can review the specific facts and applicable law.