On one of the episodes of Buy Me on HGTV, a...

[mira a]

...couple's real estate agent found out there was a landfill...? before their house was built. How can you find that information before purchasing property?

[Lainie L]

This is one of the reasons you need to hire a Realtor. They will find out this information for you. If they don't you can hold your Realtor liable. It's called due dilligence.

[acemills]

Lainie is correct in that using a realtor is helpful, since most of those in that line of work are familiar with such issues. However, if the agent performs due diligence and fails to find such an issue anyway, the agent is not liable for that failure to discover. In order for an agent to be held liable, one would have to show that he/she had knowledge of that issue and withheld it from the buyer.

Sometimes, even the best checking on the history of a property fails to reveal such issues.