Selling a house, buyers requesting EQC documents

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David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#315180 20-Jun-2024 08:25

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has been in the same situation?

I am currently selling my house, when signing up with the agent a while ago I showed him the only EQC document I had on the house which was a list of damage, it was all cosmetic such as cracked paint, and the only "impact damage" was two cracked roof tiles. I owned it during the 2011 earthquake but not the 2010 earthquake.

When I bought the place I had no EQC documents from the previous owner for the September earthquake but my building inspector checked everything out and said the place was fine so I was happy. I was paid out about 8k for the cosmetic damage for the 2011 earthquake after that happened, EQC sent me a cheque which I took the bank to deposit and I painted the house myself and replaced the two roof tiles that were cracked then painted the roof.

I now have two offers on my place and they are both asking for some sort of receipt showing what I was paid by EQC, apparently their mortgage brokers are requesting this. I have supplied the letter I got from EQC listing the damage, and I figured their building inspector could look at that and confirm the place has been fixed (remember where are talking cracked paint and two roof tiles) but they still want to see evidence of what I was paid. My agent has suggested contacting my bank to see if they could get the statement from when I put the cheque in, but that was about 10 years ago and I am no longer with the bank I was using at the time, so I don't think I have much chance with that.

I did the obvious thing and contacted EQC and requested everything they have on my place, to be told this can take up to 20 working days, which obviously wont work for anyone wanting to put an offer on my place, I know this could be put into the contract and give myself 20 days to provide it, but it seems like much more hassle than its worth and could put these buyers off buying my place, plus slow us down in getting the place sold so we can move on (we need to move asap). I then told EQC we have an offer on our place and need this asap only to be told it could still take up to 20 days, they were not accommodating at all.

With all that said, has anyone had something similar and can share some info, or does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

_David_

heavenlywild

5059 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3251027 20-Jun-2024 08:48

Why do they need to see how much you were paid by EQC? It's none of their business.

If your house is sound, you don't need to provide them with anything more.

They can get a house inspector in at their own expense.

Remember, just because they ask for stuff doesn't mean you need to provide it.

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wellygary

8312 posts

Uber Geek

#3251040 20-Jun-2024 09:10

Its not about the damage, its about what claim liability continues to exist/not exist

This is reasonably common,, Talk to your lawyer,

The best option is for you to get the info from EQC so its available to a potential purchaser

https://www.eqc.govt.nz/insurance-and-claims/claims/buying-or-selling-a-home-with-previous-claims/

"Assignment of claims

When buying or selling a property that has an EQCover claim, the claim can be transferred to the new homeowner. Once a claim is transferred, the new homeowner will have the same rights and benefits as the previous owner. The rights and benefits of the claim refers to any remaining settlement for natural disaster damage to the buildings and land that are covered by us.

This process is called an assignment of claim, and is commonly done using a document called Deed of Assignment. Other situations such as change in a relationship, or the homeowner passing away may also result in a requirement to transfer the rights of a claim."

nova

250 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#3251047 20-Jun-2024 09:23

It is ridiculous that EQC documentation for house sales is getting worse if anything. I wonder when it will end, at what point does everyone just take a house at face value and the transaction is based on the current condition of the house?

But as WellGary says, how much money has already being paid out becomes relevant if you find damage that can be traced back to the previous claim. There is a cap on how much EQC will pay out, and if you've already been paid out $100K then it has different implications to if you've only been paid a few thousand.

SJB

2945 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#3251063 20-Jun-2024 09:46

As long as the damage was minor and has been addressed then just tell them there isn't any documentation available.

If they then pull out they weren't serious anyway. As long as you don't mind waiting there is always another buyer.

Blurtie

468 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3251111 20-Jun-2024 11:10

As someone who has been stung by buying a post quake Chch house - from my perspective, I don't think it's an unreasonable request on the part of the buyers. It's well documented that there were some dodgy things going on with EQC, scoping of quake damage, managed repairs and the like, so the buyers are naturally just ticking all the boxes and requesting all relevant information...

I'm fairly sure EQC will be able to provide you with the requested docs quicker than the stated 20 days. But sounds like you might have the relevant info already for the 2011 quake. I do agree that a building inspector could easily check/confirm the work completed as per the scope of damage if it was minor.

For our own place - we got our house rescoped for missed earthquake damage and after a 3 year long process have ended up with a total rebuild (was more economical than a repair).

As part of the sale you'll likely assign the EQC claims over to the new buyers anyway - so if the new buyers find missed earthquake damage then I think they'll be able to make a claim. Although not sure how that works in your situation as you were there during the 2011 earthquake - so technically any unscoped earthquake damage should have been made through you and your own insurer.

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#3251120 20-Jun-2024 11:24

It's a good idea to get all the info from EQC for any prospective purchasers, because they are all going to ask about it. We provided it all to our agent when we sold and didn't have too much trouble. Might have been easier for us as we owned the house during both earthquakes.

In our case we had some more difficult repairs completed by a contractor, and provided the invoices to show the work had been done. We did some cosmetic stuff ourselves and told them that, and they could confirm just by looking at it that it was done. Then we had other cosmetic stuff that hadn't been done, for which we passed the money over as part of the sale.

For any house built pre-earthquake I don't think this is ever going away. People are all too aware of how many dodgy repairs that have been done.

plas

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3251469 21-Jun-2024 09:20

Having just bought a house in Canterbury this is all standard, their lawyers will want to see it and the bank will want to see it.

In my experience its always been provided as part of the documentation pack from the agent.

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David321

485 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3251481 21-Jun-2024 09:48

plas:
Having just bought a house in Canterbury this is all standard, their lawyers will want to see it and the bank will want to see it.

In my experience its always been provided as part of the documentation pack from the agent.

The list of damage or how much was paid out? I tight the list of damage along with a builders report saying its been fixed properly would settle any concern from any party? Seems not though

_David_

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#3253093 25-Jun-2024 15:36

David321:

The list of damage or how much was paid out? I tight the list of damage along with a builders report saying its been fixed properly would settle any concern from any party? Seems not though

How much was paid out is part of the EQC documentation, so you should provide it for transparency. But if repairs have been properly completed and it didn't cost what was paid out, you aren't obliged to pass over the difference (e.g. if you were paid $2,000 for a repair, but you got it properly fixed for $1,200, you don't need to pass over the remaining $800).

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3253098 25-Jun-2024 15:55

Blurtie: It's well documented that there were some dodgy things going on with EQC, scoping of quake damage, managed repairs and the like,

It goes the other way as well, sympathetic EQC people will fiddle a damage assessment so that it'll be covered when it really shouldn't be. In other words they'll make it look worse than it actually is in order to give the home owner EQC coverage rather than them having to foot the bill themselves.

cddt

1548 posts

Uber Geek

#3253103 25-Jun-2024 16:10

I imagine any Christchurch-based lawyer will be very familiar with these kinds of requests.

They may even recommend the inclusion of a specific clause in the S&P regarding the EQC claim...

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plas

453 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3253111 25-Jun-2024 16:49

David321:
plas:

Having just bought a house in Canterbury this is all standard, their lawyers will want to see it and the bank will want to see it.

In my experience its always been provided as part of the documentation pack from the agent.

The list of damage or how much was paid out? I tight the list of damage along with a builders report saying its been fixed properly would settle any concern from any party? Seems not though

Just looked at one I still had and it included all the documentation on the damage, the repairs and what was paid out. About 30 pages of documentation.