Property doesn’t meet needs of my business. Can I sue seller?
Additional Information:
I bought a commercial property in Natick and now due to disputed property lines have determined that the property is unsuitable for my business. Before we closed, the seller told me that there was a pending boundary dispute with the neighbor but that the claim was totally bogus. I had surveyed the property before closing but didn’t see any validity in the neighbor’s claim either. As it turns out, the neighbor did have a case and the property does not meet the needs of my business. Do I have a case to sue the seller?
ATTORNEY ANSWER:
You may have a case. However, the fact that your own survey suggested that the neighbor’s claim was invalid may weaken it quite a bit. Much will depend on the content of the purchase and sale agreement between you and the seller. If the P&S says that it incorporates all representations of the seller, and if the boundary dispute is not mentioned, then you would have to prove that the seller intentionally deceived (as opposed to simply being careless) when he said that the claim was bogus. This would make your case much tougher to prove.
Attorney Alan Fanger is a Natick professional malpractice and legal malpractice attorney. He serves the entire Greater Boston and Boston metro west region including Arlington, Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Concord, Dedham, Dover, Framingham, Lexington, Milton, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Quincy, Sherborn, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston, Massachusetts.
