So we have bought a subdivided land in Northeast Adelaide and got council approval for our build. Builder went to site last week to prep the land and found 3 big tree stumps under where our alfresco will be. The stumps were buried under a pile of wood chips/dirt, which we did not think much about when purchasing the land. Builder had to hire one of the biggest excavator to excavate the stumps and estimated that it will cost us about $1500-$2000.
Seeking for some opinions here, would we be able to hold previous owner responsible on their unethical behavior of actually getting fresh wood chips/dirt to cover the stumps, without informing us?
Thanks in advance.
Jin