Court Opinion

ID: 9647361
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 13:34:09.074303+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:48.503853
License: Public Domain

WICKERSHAM, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent.
I would affirm the decision of the Lebanon County Court en banc (per President Judge G. Thomas Gates and Judge John Walter) where the petition to remove a compulsory nonsuit was denied. As Judge Walter pointed out in his opinion dated November 2, 1982:
Plaintiffs’ allegations are refuted by testimony that was put forward by the plaintiffs themselves. As a basis for a majority of their claims, plaintiffs assert that they knew nothing about the flooding problem with the Palmyra property. Plaintiffs claim they never observed any indication of flooding problems nor did anyone ever inform them of the water problem. However, plaintiffs’ own witness, Mr. Bowman, testified that there was a water line along the wall in the basement which was clearly visible. (N.T. 252) The water mark was not concealed in any way and was easily recognizable for what it was — a water mark.
*273When an imperfection in a property is open and obvious it is considered a patent defect. And a patent defect imposes no duty on the owner to warn or declare. A flooding problem may not always be considered a patent defect depending on the surrounding circumstances. However, in the instant case there is no question that the flooding problem was open and obvious. By making a reasonable inspection of the house, including the basement, it was readily discernable that the property had a flooding problem at least once. For there along the basement wall, six inches above the floor was the water mark for all who would look, to see. A reasonable person seeking it would recognize the “signature” of water in the basement up to that level.
The presence of water marks in a basement as evidence of a defect in the home from some cause can be distinguished from a situation where there are mud channels made by termites present in the rafters in a basement. The latter may not be recognizable to a reasonably prudent person; the former are. See Quashnock v. Frost, [299] Pa.Super. [9], 445 A.2d 121 (1982). Thus, because the imperfection — the flooding problem — was so obvious it is a patent defect.
A seller’s duty to disclose a defect in property arises when:
“... (a) the vendee does not know or have reason to know of the condition or the risk involved, and
“(b) the vendor knows or has reason to know of the condition, and realizes or should realize the risk involved, and has reason to believe that the vendee will not discover the condition or realize the risk.”
Section 353 of the Restatement, 2d Torts. In the present case the condition of the property was such that plaintiffs Long had reason to know of the defect since it was so conspicuous. Therefore, neither the vendors, defendants Long, nor their agents had a duty to disclose the condition to the plaintiffs Long.
*274Even if there was no duty to disclose, plaintiffs claim misrepresentations were made on the condition of the property. Plaintiffs contend they asked defendant Adams if the property had a history of water damage and that he responded that the property had no previous flooding problems. An examination of the testimony shows that it is not clear whether Mr. Adams did in fact state that the property had no problems with flooding. However, assuming arguendo that Mr. Adams did say there was no history of water damage with the property, since he was only aware of flooding on the property as a result of Hurricane Agnes2, that statement in and of itself would not be sufficient grounds to remove the nonsuit. A real estate agent is not expected to be an expert on the physical quality of the property. Henry v. Babekci [Babecki], 65 [Pa.] D & C2d 4, 15 (1974). The water mark on the basement wall was obvious, there was a sump pump in the basement and part of the backyard had recently been filled in. These undisputed facts would put a reasonable person on notice that there was a water problem with the property sometime in the past. It cannot validly be contended that plaintiffs were misled by statements made by Mr. Adams. The evidence was right before plaintiffs’ eyes.
* * * * * Sic
There was no conflict in the testimony presented in the instant case, and in making all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiffs it is apparent that plaintiffs failed to establish elements to sustain a cause of action. Plaintiffs’ mortgagee testified that there was a water mark on the wall in the basement. There was no testimony that refuted the presence of the mark or that indicated an attempt to conceal the mark from plaintiffs Long. Because the mark was obvious for anyone to see and any reasonable person upon seeing the mark would have perceived it to be an indication of a flooding problem, defendants had no duty to disclose the condition of the property to plaintiffs. An active concealment of a condi*275tion or a duty to disclose a condition, the elements necessary to establish negligence, fraud, breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty on the part of defendants, were not established by the plaintiffs.
The nonsuit was properly granted. The motion for removal of the compulsory nonsuit will be denied.
2 Which yielded what meteorologists call a “100 year rain”.
Lower ct. op. at 4-8.