This article is very interesting to me as both a Real Estate Agent and a Purchaser/Seller. What I find most interesting in this article is the following: “Furthermore, the vendor is responsible to compensate the purchaser for a hidden defect regardless of whether or not he had any knowledge of it prior to the sale.” Is this always so?

If it is so, then why do many sellers go all the way through a court process when they are informed of a Hidden Defect by a purchaser? If sellers understood this, wouldn’t they just take care of the defect or compensate the purchaser and save time and money?

What if the Hidden Defect should have been apparent “to an inspector conducting a routine non-destructive pre-purchase building inspection?” Would the inspector be solely liable? And what about the inspector’s liability clause (or should I say entire section) of the report that the purchaser is obliged to sign? Does this actually protect the inspector, or is it an unreasonable clause?

This article reminds me of how we sometimes would like to turn a blind eye – but shouldn’t… Hidden defects are sometimes known defects sellers choose to not mention because they believe they will have an adverse effect on the sale of their home. This is very interesting from the perspective of Real Estate Brokers here in Quebec when asking our sellers to fill out a Seller’s Declaration. It seems to make it clear why a Seller’s Declaration is so important for all parties. If I understand correctly, when a Seller fills out a Seller’s Declaration form, they are protecting themselves against liability against things mentioned in the declaration? If a purchaser is presented with the Seller’s Declaration and they buy the property, they have agreed to buy the property with the existing “defects”? The defects are declared, therefore they are not hidden. This seems advantageous in protecting the seller from liability and the purchaser, by letting the purchaser know what they are truly getting before they sign on the dotted line…

However there are still the real “Hidden Defects”, which the seller truly does not know about – the ticking time-bomb that did not go off prior to the sale of the home. Should the seller have a pre-sale inspection before they place their home on the market? Would doing so protect the seller by intention? Which leads me back to my first question…

I enjoyed your article, please keep them coming!!! It would be interesting to have a lawyer’s perspective on Home Inspectors, how they help and how they don’t.
Tamara