Online House Hunting

Is it illegal for a home owner to make false/misleading statements when selling their home?

Husband and I recently went to look at a "for sale by owner" home in rural South Dakota. Prices are dirt-cheap, houses are typically OLD...and we're well aware of what the typical price range/age should be. So our suspicions went up when the home owner first claimed the house was "built in 1975" (this 'fact' is plastered all over every ad she's running for the house; it's evident to even a casual observer the house is quite a bit older)....and THEN she tried telling us the house/property were recently appraised for $220,000 (!!!) but she was selling it for a mere $45,000 to make a quick sale. o_O Sooo, occasionally I pride myself on not being a gullible idiot- I went to the county assessor's office & got public records on the house. Turns out the house was built in 1906 (renovated plumbing & wiring in 1974) and the house's value was assessed 4 years ago at $8720. For the house AND LAND (only 3 acres). She paid $20,000 for the house in 2007....has made NO improvements to the property & has actually had *renters* occupying it the whole time, yet she's trying to sell for a $25,000 dollar PROFIT in an area where home/land values have increased only a fraction of a percent. Now, I know it's not illegal to overprice a house BUT is it illegal to lie about the age & value of the house??? I know people who would NOT have bothered to go to the courthouse & do the research...some folks would have believed the lady's lies & gotten ripped off. And ended up with a century-old money pit to boot. I guess I'd like to make sure this lady can't scam anybody else like she ALMOST scammed us. The size & price of this house makes it appealing to first-time buyers and younger people.....sooner or later she WILL find herself a fool who doesn't know better. Can we do anything to make sure she can't take advantage of the next person to come along???

Public Comments

1. probably not much. the rule in RE is that only claims and representations made in writing in the contract are enforceable and that everything else is mere sales puffery. She's puffing, alright. as you showed, the public records are available to all. Assessor's records are available to anyone who is willing to ask. And they'll show her lies in black and white.
2. If she has no connection to any broker, or even something like buyowner, and is just doing it on her own I would call your states attorney general's office. That is ridiculous. Good for you for being resourceful and checking it all out!
3. When an owner/seller sells they will lie through their teeth as well you know and perhaps she may fool some poor person BUT if she puts in writing the age of the house and all the other details she has given you than she is in big trouble as she is making a false representation which any buyer would be able to get out of the contract only dicey part is it IS called 'caveat emptor' which means in ordinary english buyer beware so it is up to the purchaser to do the checking and if they get caught they will be stuck UNLESS they can prove she deliberately falsified and fraudulently described the house the way she did to you. Whenever you decide to purchase a house whether an agent or home owner,one thing an agent has the relevant legal docs which describe the land,title etc,than it is up to you to check whether by yourself or a lawyer but never take the word of anyone always check age of property,boundaries and also most important any freeway coming through your land plus any 'right of way'.easements,caveats etc.Take note some of these places have not had taxes paid on them for years,who pays the back taxes the new purchaser or the seller? Personally l do not trust agents BUT l trust even less home owners selling unless you do a thorough check as you have done. Remember l am in a different country to you but the Law is basically the same everywhere 'buyer beware' Good luck on the new house hunting,wish l could afford to come over and do what you are doing as there are many many bargains to be had as a friend of mine bought a 100 yr old farmhouse,renovated,wired,plumbed etc and it is absolutely lovely,came with 10 acres as they sold off most of the land.
4. All good answers...but I will add the following.... The assessment value of a home and the appraisal value are two different things. Many homes in my area are assessed between 350K-400K...but their appraisal value are much much higher.