real-estate homeownership
Duty to disclose new construction to home buyers?
<p>I recently bought a new house. After moving in I found out from some local people that a large subdivision is planned to be constructed immediately behind my property within the next 5 years. This wasn’t disclosed to me by the home sellers, either real estate agent, or our lawyers.</p>
<p>This is a large subdivision which will clear a large section of forest along a river and will effectively double the population of the small town.</p>
<p>Did anyone have a duty to disclose that information to me? Or was it my responsibility to review public planning notices I. The area? The issue as I see it is the previous home owners would have been consulted as part of the planning process, but now I’ll be facing the consequences of the development without having a voice in the process.</p>

<p>The parties involved in the sale of your property only have a duty to disclose that which is required by law (jurisdiction-dependent) about the property being purchased. You are then left to discern relevant facts about nearby lots. I would not assume that the previous owner was consulted or that there was any voting involved, though one often learns of future development plans from the neighborhood grapevine. Huge-scale development projects often have to hold hearings and a commission approves a project (or not), and that would be a public record open for inspection.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Did anyone have a duty to disclose that information to me?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>was it my responsibility to review public planning notices [in the]
area?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes.</p>
