No Pre-Existing Conditions.....Who's Line is It Anyway?

As a real estate professional, we have the fiduciary responsibility to look out for the best interest of our clients at all times. One of those duties in doing so, is trying to get a home warranty on both ends of the transaction.

When I'm representing the seller, I try to get them to get seller coverage to protect them during the listing period. The same goes for the buyer when purchasing the home, we like for our buyers to have many years of happiness in their new home, so a warranty should cover most issues that arise regarding mechanical items.

One company where I live promotes, the "No Pre-Existing Conditions" on when promoting their warranties. Recently, a home was inspected, with no issues/defects noted in the inspection report regarding the Air Conditioning. The home inspector attributed the lack of cooling in the home to that of extreme temperatures/preference of the buyer on the day of the inspection. He did not note any defects with the worksmanship or function of the unit.

Less than two weeks after purchasing their home, my buyers were expecting a child, and hired a second A/C company to come out to see if something was wrong with the unit. They made mention of the dampers being defected and not opening when they were supposed to open preventing the unit from cooling. Furthermore, the clients noticed that there was an issue with the Pea Trap not being installed on the sewer line in the laundry room, and paid the warranty company to come out to check. The clients mentioned when they made the service call that they thought this was the issue, and the warranty company stated they understood. The warranty company gladly took my clients money for the service call, but stated the this item was not covered due to lack of parts installed!!!!

My clients are now faced with faced with having to contact an AC Repairman and a Plumber to fix what could be major problems in their home at their own expense.

Preaching no Pre-Existing Conditions is one thing, but poor customer service is another.

What would you do?