I am merely a law student, so use my advice at your own risk. To the best of my knowledge (we're just starting to talk about this in contracts), the owner is not required to inform you of any defects; the court will imply a warantee of habitability, but not any further warantee. If there is some form of explicit warantee in the deed, or if the owner said something to you, then you have a cause of action.
On the other hand, a lot of this stuff is going to depend on jurisdiction, so you may want to consult a lawyer in your area (and I'm sure others will tell you this too).
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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."
"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
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