Purchasing A Boat From A SAMS Surveyor

[Freeebird]

I won't name names, but is there any legal recourse if a licensed surveyor basically breaks one off in someone to whom they sell their personal boat knowing it has a TON of issues they have failed to disclose?

I know that most used boats are sold "as is", but I have to wonder if that holds in such a situation. No, this doesn't involve me personally, but a friend has found themselves in this situation. At best, it wasn't very ethical on the part of this surveyor (Florida Gulf coast) to take advantage of a novice, but ethics and legal responsibility are two different animals. Your thoughts?

[SEVEN]

In the survey I had just had done, the survivor states he has viewed the boat and has listed all he has seen but if something is found at a later date, I have no recourse against him. Good luck to your friend but buyer be ware.

[Boatsb]

Did he provide a survey or represent the boat in accurately?

If questions were not asked he is not required to disclose most problems.

If he was not officially surveying the boat there may not be recourse through sams.

[av8torrich]

Here are my thoughts:

If he was also working in a professional capacity (ie provided a survey report with his name on it), then I would think there would be some sort of legal remedy available. If this were a private sale between two parties, where the buyer failed to hire an indipendent surveyor, it woud be difficult.

Eitherway I think the behavior is unethical, and would warrant a letter to SAMS.

[Freeebird]

Here are my thoughts:

If he was also working in a professional capacity (ie provided a survey report with his name on it), then I would think there would be some sort of legal remedy available. If this were a private sale between two parties, where the buyer failed to hire an indipendent surveyor, it woud be difficult.

Eitherway I think the behavior is certaily unethical, and would warrant a letter to SAMS.

Those were my thoughts as well, and I made the same recommendation about writing a letter to SAMS if this guy doesn't make some sort of concession. Again, I don't know the exact details and have only heard one side of this story, but it seems a licensed surveyor would be held to a higher standard than the average seller.

[Freeebird]

Did he provide a survey or represent the boat in accurately?

If questions were not asked he is not required to disclose most problems.

If he was not officially surveying the boat there may not be recourse through sams.

Again, I don't know all the details of who said what, but would you hire that particular surveyor to survey his own boat? Talk about a conflict of interest.

[av8torrich]

Again, I don't know all the details of who said what, but would you hire that particular surveyor to survey his own boat? Talk about a conflict of interest.

Assumeing the buyer is telling the truth; I could see a scenario where the seller might have provided a survey to close the deal. If this is the case, then I think you may stand a chance of prevailing. I can't imagine SAMS would take kindly to this sort of nonsense, and this guy should be exposed.

[Boatsb]

It all depends on how he represented the boat. Supplying a survey would be an interesting twist.

Time for a lawyer.

[Freeebird]

Assumeing the buyer is telling the truth; I could see a scenario where the seller might have provided a survey to close the deal. If this is the case, then I think you may stand a chance of prevailing. I can't imagine SAMS would take kindly to this sort of nonsense, and this guy should be exposed.

As far as I know, there was no written survey presented to the buyer by the seller. Seems to me the problem came in when he told the buyer he was a licensed surveyor before this deal was made. That gave the seller much more credence than just an average Joe who was trying to unload a boat. I'm sure that gave the buyer a false sense of security.

[rwappleton]

My take is if the surveyor supplied a certified survey he is liable. If not I think not. I do think that it still deserves a letter to SAMS as if he don't know who does? Maybe he is using the Barack Obama method of transparency!

You would not want to be a little more specific on the location and type of boat would you?

PM if you wish

Russ