Pending sales fall in August

— By: Marilyn Jackson

Pending sales of condos and single-family homes in August fell in year-to-year comparisions, but the number of single-family homes placed under agreement between July and August increased, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
For condos, the pending sales dipped from 1,466 to 1,435 in a month-to-month comparison. In August 2009, pending sales of condos totaled 1,770.
Kevin Sears, broker-co-owner of Sears Real estate in Springfield and president of MAR, said that the rock-bottom interest rates may be starting to have an impact.

Petitions to foreclose drop, but deeds nearly double

— By: Marilyn Jackson

A record number of foreclosures were recorded across the state in July, but the number of petitions to foreclose dropped, according to the Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman.
The petitions are the first step of the foreclosure process, and many times the financial problems can be resolved before the properties are sold.
Fewer petitions may be a hint that the housing crisis is abating. The federal government has created programs to help rescue homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

MORE FEATURED HOMES

492 Beacon St. Unit 12 LIVING ROOM 1

Flagship Wharf No. 629 DINING ROOM

64 Walker St. EXTERIOR

301 Berkeley St. ENTRY

45 Commonwealth Ave. RENDERING

— By: Linda Goodspeed

Smoky fireplace poses burning questions

Q:

This past summer we purchased a home that has a gas fireplace. The home has electric heat so we planned to rely on this fireplace as our primary heat source.

The fireplace smokes and has not worked properly since we started using it this fall. We finally had someone come in to look at it. He did not think it could be repaired and recommended we buy a new one. He said he didn’t know whether it was just defective to start with or had not been installed right.

At any rate he could not fix it. On top of all that, both our young children have developed asthma because of the fireplace.

Do we have any legal recourse against the previous owner or anybody for that matter because of all the problems, health and otherwise, we have had with this fireplace?

A:

Your question is a little hard to answer because I don’t know all of the specifics.

You asked about a claim against the seller: You may be able to pursue a claim against the seller, especially if the seller was aware of the problem with the fireplace and, even more especially, if you asked the seller about the fireplace and he told you that there were no problems with it.

Likewise, if you asked the real estate agent about the fireplace and he/she told you that there were no problems with it, you may be able to bring a claim against the broker under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A (the consumer protection statute) for unfair and deceptive practices.

Did you have a home inspection? Did it include the fireplace? If so, what did the home inspection reveal? You would need to review all of your documents in the transaction, the terms of your purchase-and-sales agreement, home inspection, what the seller and/or real estate agent represented to you about the fireplace.

Whether you should pursue a claim against either the seller or real estate agent depends on many factors. You would need to hire an attorney to review the situation. Keep in mind, even if the facts and evidence do warrant a claim, there are other considerations you need to discuss with an attorney before deciding to go ahead with a claim.

For example, are the health problems your children have experienced because of the defective fireplace severe enough to justify the expense of litigation? Even if you should prevail, do the defendants have sufficient assets (either themselves or through insurance policies) to be able to pay any judgment that you might be awarded? These are all questions you need to discuss with a lawyer.