Pat Purchaser purchased a home from Sonja Seller. Sonja represented that the basement did not leak. A few months after the purchase, following a hard rain, Pat discovered that the basement did leak. Pat hired a building inspector to examine the basement and was told that it had been leaking for some time and it would be expensive to fix the problem. Pat did nothing about it at that time. A year later, after another hard rain, Pat sued Sonja and demanded rescission of the sale, the return of her purchase money, and reimbursement for the cost of a deck that Pat built on the home after the purchase. Will Pat be able to rescind the sale? Explain your answer.

Question

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Answer 1

Pat may be able to rescind the contract due to Sonja’s misrepresentation regarding the basement. Rescission, however, can be waived. Failure to notify the seller may waive the right to rescind. Improvements made to property prior to a demand for rescission may waive the right. Thus, it is possible that Pat’s yearlong delay in demanding rescission and the construction of the deck waived her right to rescind.