Saturday, October 31, 2015

A: They can certainly be held accountable, particularly if they had prior knowledge of a material fact or should have known about it.

For example, if the seller has to use pans to collect water after a heavy rain, it is the agent’s responsibility to question the seller about the integrity of the roof, and then relay this information to potential buyers.  However, if the seller duly hides a defect from the agent for which the agent had no prior knowledge, then the agent is not accountable.  Experts say agents are not home inspectors, but they are expected to use their best judgement when something appears suspicious.

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