I have a young co-worker who closed on a house just yesterday around noon. All inspections and appraisals showed the AC in good working condition. However, as soon as closing was complete they went over to take possession of the home and the AC was out. I gave a suggestion of my AC guy and he came to find massive outside unit leak and a small leak in the inside coils.

The home warranty company said they consider it a pre-existing condition and that their policy did not kick in until mid-night after closing anyway. What recourse does this young couple have?

Did they do a final walkthrough prior to closing?

Compare the serial numbers on the inspection report and the unit installed. I don't see how it could develop a "massive" leak overnight.

This same thing happened to us one time. Walked thru the day before: working. Went after closing: not working. I thought we were the only ones this would happen to. Luckily for us, it was a rent house that were were planning to renovate anyway, but still a massive disappointment.

Did he get any AC inspection by an actual AC company? Or rely on the general inspector?

Well, unfortunately they only had a general inspector check everything and not an actual AC technician inspect the unit. In addition, it appears his realtor talked them out of an final walkthrough because they had done another walkthrough a few weeks ago after some other repairs had been made.

goodbull92 said:

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Well, unfortunately they only had a general inspector check everything and not an actual AC technician inspect the unit. In addition, it appears his realtor talked them out of an final walkthrough because they had done another walkthrough a few weeks ago after some other repairs had been made.

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Well that's just lazy. I'd still compare the serial numbers. Either the sellers swapped the condenser or they pumped it full of refrigerant right before the inspection.

Curious, even if they found this during final walk through, they wouldn't have been able to delay closing and renegotiate, right?

My uneducated opinion....

A capacitor needing to be replaced I can see as unfortunate timing....

This is fraud by the sellers in covering up and not disclosing and/or a poor inspector/inspection.

goodbull92 said:

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Well, unfortunately they only had a general inspector check everything and not an actual AC technician inspect the unit. In addition, it appears his realtor talked them out of a final walkthrough because they had done another walkthrough a few weeks ago after some other repairs had been made.

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A walk-through a few weeks before closing as satisfying a final walk-through is terrible advice and terribly naive/ignorant of the buyer.

MS08 said:

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goodbull92 said:

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Well, unfortunately they only had a general inspector check everything and not an actual AC technician inspect the unit. In addition, it appears his realtor talked them out of a final walkthrough because they had done another walkthrough a few weeks ago after some other repairs had been made.

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A walk-through a few weeks before closing as satisfying a final walk-through is terrible advice and terribly naive/ignorant of the buyer.

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I can't argue either point; however, the buyer is a 25 yr old 1st time home buyer. I'm really frustrated for them because they had a 3rd party agent and their job was to look out for them. It looks like it is just a $10k lesson they learned the hard way and have no recourse.

Pretty easy to add some refrigerant to an AC unit, even with a "massive leak" and it will run for a day or so before it gives out again. Seems like they got hustled. Home warranty's are a complete scam, hopefully they avoid that in the future after this situation. Only saving grace - a new AC unit, albeit expensive, should last them for 10-years plus, so they won't have to worry about it again for a long time, and it will blow nice and cool for the next several summers with limited maintenance.

I get the general hate for home warranties...but who in their right mind would think it should apply in this case.

why would anyone ever repair anything prior to sale if you could get a third party to fix it for you?

That sucks for your coworker. What home warranty company did they choose? My AC unit broke down (bad compressor) two weeks after closing and I only had to pay for my deductible plus freon charges.

How did you find the inspector that you used? Shock me.