"Good Deal" On Recently "Rehabbed" Foreclosure Leaves Novice Homebuying Couple Unpleasantly Surprised, Holding The Bag

In Cincinnati, Ohio, WKRC-TV Channel 12 reports:

• Many of the homes now on the market got there through foreclosure. Some have been rehabbed before going back up for sale. But, if you're looking at such a home, Troubleshooter Howard Ain is here to show why you have to be very careful.

• Some rehabbed homes can come with lots of problems. That's what Erin Bohannon-Chenault of Fairfield learned. She and her husband say they thought they were getting a good deal. "All we know is it was a rehab and they had fixed it up. And from what we knew everything was new. They said they had put in new appliances, new water heater, that's what they had told us."

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• Erin says she's now contacting an attorney to see if she can get out of the purchase because she says there were so many problems that were not disclosed. And repairs on the house will run into the thousands of dollars.(1)

For a rundown on the unpleasant surprises that Erin and her husband discovered after moving into their home, see Fairfield Couple's Dream Home Purchase Becomes Nightmare.

(1) If the potential title trouble arising from sloppy and fraudulent paperwork-handling during the foreclosure process isn't enough to scare away those homebuyers looking for a good deal by buying recently foreclosed homes, then certaintly the sloppy and fraudulent "facelifts" masquerading as "rehabs" that some real estate investor-flippers (and possibly some lenders and loan servicers as well) are giving to some of these wrecks might.

And, to the extent that the homes being flipped were built before 1978, you can bet that these flippers, lenders and loan servicers are probably not complying with new Federal rules regulating the repair and maintenance of these homes (effective as of April 22, 2010, and which impose certain training, certification and work practice requirements on activities that disturb lead-based painted surfaces). See EPA's New Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting Requirements Take Effect, which provides one law firm's overview of the new Federal rules, which generally apply to those pre-1978 homes where repair or maintenance activities will disturb 6 square feet or more of interior paint per room or 20 square feet or more of exterior paint. Note that the renovation activities subject to this rule could include electrical work, plumbing, carpentry, and other work that disturbs painted surfaces.