Septic Field Question

[MicroPilot]

Unfortunately it sounds as if you need to hire a lawyer.

 

[slydog]

What ever you do, send a registered letter to both the woman you bought the property from, and the neighbor, stating your objection to the encroachment on your property. You need something in writing, with both date and time, documenting your disapproval. There is a statute in most states laws known as prescriptive easement, which basically states, after a certain number of years (arkansas is 7 some are more, some less) if you allow acess across your property without ascerting your disapproval, an easement for the egress can be legally recognized by the courts as if an easement were originally granted. In other words, if you don't descent, at some point in the future, they can claim prescriptive easement, and keep their "stuff" on your land. I know for a fact this applies to "right of way" and ingress and egress, but it might possibly also apply to utility type easements as well. Demand they move it. If they refuse, hire an attorney. It is not your burden to bear their septic tank problems, and they shouldn't even question it. If they do, then you both should be the ones to file a suit against the seller, and ask for attorney fees. <font color="black"> </font>

 

[JayC]

Caseville is a nice little community. I helped a friend clean out an estate there at the beginning of July for an auction. It was pretty warm that day. The auction was an annual one in Port Hope. A nice tractor show is there, too.

 

[ByronBob]

This is definately beyond what would we do or not do. The legality of it is in serious issue here. If the land is useless you might need to sue somebody to get out of the property. In any case someone is responsable for leading you outside the normal limits of liability. This smells well......... like sewage /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[dmccarty]

Jastak,

What a mess. I dodged a similar situation a few years ago. I have a common boundry with a neighbor. His house is not square and plumb to the lot. Its off by about 30 degrees. Why? He went and ripped down all of the survey flagging that showed the property line. Why? Who knows. I went at my own expense and had the line surveyed. If I had not done this their septic would have been on my land. Best couple hundred dollars I have spent. While you problem is not common it does happen.

When I got my septic permits, I have pulled three of them but that is a long story, I always knew where the lots lines where located. I showed the pins to the inspector and he went from there. Having said that I think its a reasonable person test. The septic inspector is not a surveyor so he relies on me the landowner to show the lines which I had very well marked and he could see the pins. But in the end he is taking my word for the location. So I think the inspector in you case would be hard to touch. The same goes to the installer. He is going to to put the location of the field onto the landowner which I think is fair.

So that leaves the seller in your case and maybe the homeowner. Get a lawyer quick before you do anything else. Given that the neighbors knew the septic field was on the wrong land the seller seems to have cooked her own goose. These could be criminal charges. But get a lawyer and go after her. She certainly should have known the lot lines and she could have had the lines redrawn before selling to you and this would be a moot point. But she did not.

Another thing to think about is how much does the other house's septic system impact your use of the land? In my state a well cannot be within 100 feet of any part of any septic system. So if you have a small lot 100 feet can really chew up your house siting. Even on our lots which are roughtly 700-800 feet by 300-350 feet, impacting 100' feet into another lot can really effect how the neighbors can locate a house, septic and well. Does your area have rules that can effect you this way?

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[Junkman]

The well setback requirement is also in MA. I have a friend that located his well as close to the property line as legally possible so the neighbor couldn't put in a new septic system when his fails. The logic is that when the system fails and has to be replaced, the neighbor will not be able to put in the new requirement and will be forced to sell out to the him. The best part I left for last... the neighbors land is on the tip of a peninsula on a lake... he has no were to go even for a engineered system. The only thing that can fit onto the land is a tight tank...