Basement floor - Who knows what these holes are?

yes and if there is something = residual moisture, then it is fraudulent misrepresentation if the seller knew about it.

not at all.

In the case of a house with defects, the seller does not have to disclose the defects if they are either obvious or could have been checked before the purchase.
You sell a house with its advantages.

It would be different if asbestos is installed in parts of the house that are hidden and denied upon inquiry, or a water damage that is covered up by placing a large wardrobe in front of it.

see -> deception! Deception is intent.

But all that is cleared up before buying the house.
Of course, a basement can be flooded once in a while – but it is not a defect if the damage has been repaired.
By the way, you can smell moisture ;)

Terms like "fraudulent misrepresentation", "construction stop", "defect" and "fraud" are spoken of far too quickly without understanding the terminology.

And you know so well that you know when a defect is classified as obvious and when not?

Did the OP address the seller about these holes, do we know that? What did the seller answer?

If someone ventilates before the viewing, you don't smell anything at all.

And again the question: according to the OP, the house had 2 previous owners, so it's already older, why has it never been tiled after all these years????

That reeks to high heaven....

And you know so well when a defect is considered obvious and when not?

That has nothing to do with your statement about fraudulent misrepresentation.

I am somewhat knowledgeable (and every day) about the interpretation of laws and their violation, otherwise I would not have replied here. Apart from that, I once bought an old house myself and also sold it again.
In that regard (the former), I know the circumstance when one _cannot_ speak of fraudulent misrepresentation.
So I would not claim such a thing, because it could be interpreted by readers as "false accusation" under Section 164 of the Criminal Code ;)

If someone ventilates before the inspection, you don’t smell anything at all.

And again the question: according to the OP, the house had 2 previous owners and is therefore already older, so why has it never been tiled after all these years????

Yes, you would smell it! Damp cellars smell musty and you can’t simply get rid of that by airing out.

And not everyone who doesn’t tile their cellar is immediately suspicious of wanting to cover something up. I think that’s a bit far-fetched. My cellar right now (in a house from the 1950s) is also not tiled. That doesn’t mean I want to hide anything.

That the previous owners don’t know what was on the floor, that is simply a bit odd.

Regardless: decide on site now: if dry --> then you can certainly tile. If not dry --> trouble, look for the cause!

There are 2 legal situations in which the seller probably has a duty to inform and if he does not comply with this, it constitutes fraudulent misrepresentation.

1) Duty to inform due to a specific question: here the question is: has the basement ever been wet? If the seller claims no and this is not the case, he has not fulfilled his duty to inform.

2) Duty to inform without a question from the buyer: here there are certain topics that are to be regarded as such, you yourself have already mentioned asbestos......this also includes, for example, a damp basement due to missing basement waterproofing.

The seller can rescind the purchase contract if the seller intentionally violates his duty to inform. In this case, fraudulent misrepresentation is present.

As a result, the contract is canceled and invalid. The buyer can therefore claim the purchase price back.

One can now mainly argue about this if one were the party and the opposing party ;)

1) Duty to inform due to a concrete question: here the question: has the basement ever been wet? If the seller claims no and that is not the case, he has not fulfilled his duty to inform

The question only came up after the purchase?! But it hardly matters whether the basement has ever been wet. Some basements, just to stick to the example, are wet more often. Then it dries or is dried, and all is well. Usually, you have more problems with the household goods when professionally dried.

More interesting is the reason for the moisture one suspects here. Has it been stopped? Or is there a leak that causes moisture to repeatedly occur? If it was a washing machine, I would politely dismiss this topic and look at more important rooms. However, this situation does not seem to be the case here. Because there are signs that something has been done. By the way, these holes can also have other causes... as I said: you can smell moisture, feel high humidity... with a good nose you can also smell mold if it is there :)

2) Duty to inform without question from the buyer: here there are certain issues that are to be regarded as such, you yourself have already mentioned asbestos...... this also includes, for example, a damp basement due to missing basement insulation.

But the seller must first be aware that something has been installed or is missing.

As a result, the contract is canceled and invalid. The buyer can therefore reclaim the purchase price.

If only it were that simple. It is not. It is expected of the buyer before a purchase that he seek expert advice. That is why the contract usually includes the clause "sold as seen". And yes: fraud and deception are certainly not trivial offenses, but I still do not see it here.

Have a nice weekend

P.S. By the way, with these "holes" I rather thought of impressions from construction rods.