When a purchaser, for example, purchases real property and then learns that not only does the government plan to take the property through eminent domain but the seller knew of but did not disclose this information before the sale, does the purchaser have any legal recourse? Conversely, does the seller have a duty to disclose information of a condemnation?
General New York Law
In general, New York law adheres to the doctrine of caveat emptor.1 The seller has no duty in an arm’s-length transaction to disclose any information concerning the property unless there is some conduct by the seller that constitutes active concealment. The seller’s silence, without some affirmative act of deception, is not actionable as fraud.
