We bought a house 5 years ago. For the past year, we've noticed that the floor has been sinking. The tile around the outside of the rooms is cracked. When we bought the house, the sellers listed new tile and carpet throughout the entire house as one of the positive selling points. We brought in a structural engineer and his report stated that this has been an ongoing problem for years and that the floor slab under the new floor had been patched from previous "drop" and then covered with the new flooring.
Is there a statute of limitations for failurre to disclose and who is liable? We've contacted the seller's realtor and all he has done is drag his feet on finding the sellers or moving forward with any help.
The cost (through 3 construction companies estimates) of fixing the sinking floor is over $40,000, so it's no small matter. How should we proceed with our complaint or do we have no basis to expect compensation?

gframe,
You mention that you have contacted the sellers Realtor, why have you not contacted your Realtor as you are his clients. The sellers Realtor did not represent you.
Disclosure laws and regulation vary by state but as a general rule if it was reasonably believed that the problem had been corrected then no diclosure may have been required.
Did you have a whole house inspection when you purchased?
You only course of action is to contact a real estate attorney to determine if you even have a case.

Some statutes are based on when you first noticed the problem. Others are from the date of the transaction.

The first questions we need to answer is whether you had an inspection and what the seller's disclosure said. It's possible that the sellers had the tile replaced due to foundation issues, but they can claim it was simply a cosmetic improvement. Many sellers don't know how to recognize a foundation issue, so you'd have to prove that they were being deceptive.

Another thing is that you've had the house for 5 years. Depending on when the issue started, it's possible that it's only become noticeable recently. Even if you had an inspection when you purchased the house, it's possible that the shifting wasn't detectible at the time. The sellers could argue that when they lived in the house, there was no way to know that the foundation was slipping or perhaps there more recent issues contributed.

Naturally, they could be lying, but regardless, you've got a lot to prove. Just start with all of your documentation or locate the company who replaced the flooring to learn more about the work they did and what they saw at the time.

"We brought in a structural engineer and his report stated that this has been an ongoing problem for years and that the floor slab under the new floor had been patched from previous "drop" and then covered with the new flooring."

Well if that repair was made before they lived there they and they didnt know about it they had nothing to disclose.

You basicly disclosed it to yourself with the inspection, and continued to purchase the house.

Im confused on why you want to contact the previous owners?