Warranty Against Hidden Defects: The buyer is not a professional!
After noticing cracks in the walls of their home, the new buyers of this property are suing the sellers to seek compensation for their losses based on the warranty against hidden defects.
In their defense, the sellers point out that the cracks were already visible at the time of the sale and, as such, they cannot be held liable for them. To no avail.
Upon review of the case, the Court of Cassation confirmed that the defect was latent. It must be noted that the multiple cracks stemmed from the foundations’ unsuitability for the underlying soil and, furthermore, were progressive in nature, such that detecting the defect would have required a monitoring period of at least one year.
Thus, even though the buyers did notice traces of cracks during their pre-sale inspections, since they were neither construction professionals nor required to be accompanied by an expert, they could not fully assess the extent and consequences of the defect.
