Gold Coast family say seller disclosure laws could have stopped them buying termite-damaged home
April 6 2024
ABC News
In short: Despite engaging a certified building and pest inspector before buying it, a Gold Coast family's new home was so infested with termites it had to be demolished.
They say the real estate agent knew about the pests but did not tell them.
What's next: The Queensland government has passed new legal protections for homebuyers, but does not know when the laws will come into effect.
Zara and Shaun Sarson did everything right when they bought their first house in 2019, but it was so badly infested with termites it had to be knocked down.
To make matters worse, they say the real estate agent who sold them their home knew it had termite damage, but did not tell them.
After a long battle for compensation, the Gold Coast couple say they are hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
"You kind of assume that if somebody sells it then it should be a solid house, not one you have to tear down a few months later," Ms Sarson said.
"It seems like there are many loopholes … for everyone, except the buyer."
The Sarsons believe new legal protections to ensure other homebuyers in Queensland are not left in the same situation cannot come soon enough.
The Queensland government passed legislation in October 2023 that requires owners to disclose "all relevant information" about a property to the buyer before the sale.
Mandatory disclosure schemes already exists in other states like New South Wales and Victoria.
But in Queensland, there is still no start date for the new laws six months after they were passed.
A new home nightmare
The Sarsons bought their two-storey home at Elanora on the Gold Coast for $660,000 five years ago, after engaging a certified building and pest inspector who told them he carried out a thermal scan of the property's timber beams.
The inspection report seen by the ABC stated there was "no visible evidence of termite activity or damage".
"He just said, 'It's a good, solid house — you can't go wrong with this'," Ms Sarson said.
Three months after moving in with their two young children, the couple discovered termites crawling out of a power socket in the bathroom.
A hand pulls an electrical switch off the wall to reveal a termite infestation.
Termites were crawling out of the electrical sockets.(ABC Gold Coast)
"It was full of termites," she said.
"We still thought, 'Oh, there might just be a nest right there.' We did not think that it was the entire house.
"Every panel we pulled out, it got worse and worse."
The damage was so widespread, the house was deemed too dangerous to live in and had to be demolished.
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The Sarsons later found out the property had earlier failed pest inspections commissioned by another prospective buyer.
Those inspection reports, also seen by the ABC, found "severe, widespread" termite damage and warned there was "high risk" of additional undetected damage.
The house was assessed to be in "below average condition" because of structural defects like wood rot, moisture and drainage issues.
Emails seen by the ABC show the prospective buyer had sent those reports to the real estate agent, but the agent was not obliged to disclose the defects.
The home had to be demolished three months after the Sarsons moved in.
The Sarsons said during the demolition, termite holes were uncovered in the kitchen floor that had been patched up with plasterboard.
"They were happy to just have us buy this house knowing that it could fall apart at any time," Ms Sarson said.
It is 'so unjust'
The Sarsons have lived in eight rental properties in the past five years and tried unsuccessfully to sell the land.
In the end, they took a second mortgage to rebuild on the same block.
The structural damage was so widespread the property was deemed unsafe to live in.
They reached a confidential settlement with the professional indemnity insurer of the building and pest inspector they engaged, but estimate the ordeal cost them $300,000.
The ABC has not identified the building and pest inspector for legal reasons.
Guy Gibbons says Queensland's seller disclosure scheme is not as onerous as Victoria's.
The real estate agent who sold them the home no longer works in the industry.
Ms Sarson said her family was still dealing with the ripple effects financially and emotionally.
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