Real Estate – Residential

How We Fixed the Homeowner’s Unwelcome Surprise

Peter Covo, Partner

Situation

After buying and settling into their dream house in an affluent western suburb, nearly a year later a young professional couple discovered that an occasional small puddle in the basement had escalated to several inches of water after a rainstorm. They immediately appealed for help from the seller/builder who came back and attempted to fix the wet basement problem, but that effort was unsuccessful.

As the drainage problems persisted whenever it rained significantly, their frustration grew as the builder became increasingly difficult and then unresponsive to their communications. After months of getting the “run around” and feeling stress every time it rained, the concerned homeowners finally called us for help.

Action

As we had represented the client in the original real estate purchase, when they contacted us we were able to step in right away and take immediate action to protect them under Massachusetts Law 93A.

Outcome

As a result, we succeeded in getting the builder’s attention and were able to secure funds and rectify the drainage problem. And, with the basement reliably dry, the homeowners were very happy with the outcome.