Marine Surveyor

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October 5th, 2008 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

marine surveyor
Has anyone hired a marine surveyor who missed major/obvious problems on boat? Were they liable in any way?

Marine surveyor missed major structural issues such as rotted out aft bulkhead, cracks in hull along with detached stringers from hull from engine room back to lazarette--both caused by damaged bulkhead. Surveyor doesn't have insurance but has personal assets. Boat broker I went through had previously owned The Boat on two occassions. I feel like the surveyor gave the boat the "green light" because the boat brokers knew I would buy the boat if it had favorable survey. They successfully sold me "bill of goods" which didn't properly reflect the true condition of the vessel. I am currently out $110,000 dollars. My dilemma is this, do I follow through with lawsuit, which will cost possibly another $30,000, with the ability to recoup my losses or throw good money after bad? Or do I look to salvage vessel which was given a salvage value of $5,500? Or do I walk away from problem and try to strike a deal with the bank to reduce my outstanding loan of $60,000 if I pay the balance off in full?

Lawsuit, all the way. Yur contract to purchase the boat should have read something like, upon results of a favorable survey. If the survey was substandard, and yo used a licensed surveyor, he can be held responsible if the damage was so obvious that it should not have been missed. Get a lawyer to represent you on contingency, and when you win, he get's a portion of the settlement. Call all the newpapers and let them know what happened.