Legal Advice for Home Purchase Problems

Questioner

Hello, I recently bought a house and the sales brochure stated that the central heating boiler was from 2012. I had a mechanic look at it to conclude a service contract and he said that the boiler was from 2001 and that we have no hot water. Now the estate agent suddenly says yes, no, it was overhauled in 2012. Can I do anything about that?

Lawyer

Two questions that need to be answered in order to give an initial answer: 1. Can you reproduce the literal text from the brochure? 2. Did you also use an estate agent when purchasing the house?

Questioner

Heating and hot water by means of a HR central heating boiler, brand Atag, built in 2012 (owned) and partly local heating. and we brought our own advisor who does this more often and is now helping us.

Lawyer

Now that the broker has explicitly and unambiguously stated in the brochure that the boiler was built in 2012 and it subsequently turns out that it was overhauled in 2012, we come to the following questions: 1. to what extent does the buyer have a duty of investigation to check whether the facts stated in the brochure are correct. Does this concern a so-called 'hidden defect' or is this a case of deception/fraud that was not discovered by the buyer in a timely manner? 2. to what extent the seller and the selling agent are obliged to include correct facts in the sales brochure. 3. Can a brochure from a (NVRM-certified?) real estate agent be expected to show that the facts stated in the brochure are correct? 4. If questions 1, 2 and 3 are in favour of the buyer. You come to the next question: What damage does the buyer suffer because the boiler in question was reconditioned in 2012 and was built in 2001 instead of a boiler built in 2012? Maximum the difference between the value of a boiler built in 2012 and a boiler built in 2001. If it is determined that the buyer and/or his advisor should have checked better at the time of purchase, this amount may be lower, at least to 0 euros. 5. Parties that may be contacted by the buyer are: a) the seller, alternatively b) the (NVRM) broker, and c) the buyer's advisor. In this case, the buyer can first be addressed as defendant 1 and the broker as defendant 2. Claim based on: deception, fraud. To be instituted at the District Court (the damage will not exceed 25,000EURO). There is no mandatory legal representation at the court. You can appoint an authorized representative. This can be a (company) lawyer, but you can also authorize any third party to institute proceedings. Do take into account the court fees. In such cases, these amount to approximately 78 for a private individual for cases up to 500EURO or 221 if the claim concerns an amount higher than 500EURO. (check this in advance at www.rechtspraak.nl) However, everything is subject to - the purchase conditions possibly signed by the buyer in which he/she agrees with the broker and seller - was there a hidden defect in this case -> If not, then there is little chance of success.

Lawyer

Incorrect information was provided during the sale. As a result, the seller is liable for the damage you suffered. Because the central heating system is 10 years older than stated, there is a significant difference. I therefore advise you to hold the buyer liable for error because he provided incorrect information.