Sump Pump Problem (Lebanon: real estate, buying a house, buying)

[purplenova]

looking at buying a house that the owner states the sump pump is routed to the sanitary sewer.

the home inspection turned up the same issue. Spoke to the county sewer and water dept, who contacted the owner. Owner will not correct the issue.

Suggestions to correct and questimate on the costs for repairs.

Thanks

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by purplenova

looking at buying a house that the owner states the sump pump is routed to the sanitary sewer.

the home inspection turned up the same issue. Spoke to the county sewer and water dept, who contacted the owner. Owner will not correct the issue.

Suggestions to correct and questimate on the costs for repairs.

Thanks

Depends on the location of the sump pump. If the sump pump is in a basement near an exterior wall it may not be any more complicated than running a vertical pipe up the foundation wall and through a drain drilled at the top to the outside.

But yes, a sump pump is considered surface water and it is illegal to pipe it into a sanitary sewer. I would include it in any agreement to purchase as an item which will be corrected.

[purplenova]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Depends on the location of the sump pump. If the sump pump is in a basement near an exterior wall it may not be any more complicated than running a vertical pipe up the foundation wall and through a drain drilled at the top to the outside.

But yes, a sump pump is considered surface water and it is illegal to pipe it into a sanitary sewer. I would include it in any agreement to purchase as an item which will be corrected.

owner told the county water/sewer guy today he wasnt fixing it...just want to make sure we dont get held responsible if there is an issue at the county level

[Gibaschitz]

Originally Posted by purplenova

owner told the county water/sewer guy today he wasnt fixing it...just want to make sure we dont get held responsible if there is an issue at the county level

I agree with kjbrill who presents the facts. If you purchase the property and the problem is not corrected and the governing authority becomes aware of this, you would be held responsible. However, I seem to recall that there may be a law that holds sellers liable for problems associated with the property for a fixed period of time after the sale, especially if they were aware of the problem. Your whole house inspector should have information about this and be able to advise you.

Your discovery of the problem after signing a purchase contract may be grounds for canceling it without suffering any damages for breach of contract. It may be that the seller just doesn’t want to be inconvenienced by having the problem repaired, since it seems unlikely that a major expense would be involved. Maybe you could get an estimate for the work and deduct that amount from your offer.

[rrtechno]

State of Ohio, Department of Commerce, Residential Property Disclosure Form used in Ohio Real Estate transactions:

"Purpose of Disclosure Form: This is a statement of the condition of the property and of information concerning the property actually known by the owner as required by Ohio Revised Code Section 5302.30. Unless otherwise advised in writing by the owner, the owner, other than having lived at or owning the property, possesses no greater knowledge than that which could be obtained by a careful inspection of the property by a potential purchaser. Unless otherwise advised, owner has not conducted any inspection of generally inaccessible areas of the property. THIS STATEMENT IS NOT A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND BY THE OWNER OR BY ANY AGENT OR SUBAGENT REPRESENTING THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY. THIS STATEMENT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANY INSPECTIONS. POTENTIAL PURCHASERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN THEIR OWN PROFESSIONAL INSPECTION."

"F) MECHANICAL SYSTEMS: Do you know of any current problems or defects with the following mechanical systems? If your property does not have the mechanical system, mark N/A (Not Applicable). ...

5) Sump pump ...

If the answer to any of the above questions is “Yes”, please describe and indicate any repairs to the mechanical system since owning the property (but not longer than the past 5 years)."

http://com.ohio.gov/real/docs/real_C...losureForm.pdf

While this form is not intended to force the current owner to make necessary repairs, in this case where the owner has apparently indicated he is aware of the problem, it might serve as a negotiating tool to adjust the selling price to help cover costs associated with correcting the problem.

[purplenova]

would you know of a good plumbing company in the Lebanon area to call and get estimates from.

Thanks for your input on this topic. I really appreciate it.

[Gibaschitz]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

State of Ohio, Department of Commerce, Residential Property Disclosure Form used in Ohio Real Estate transactions:

"Purpose of Disclosure Form: This is a statement of the condition of the property and of information concerning the property actually known by the owner as required by Ohio Revised Code Section 5302.30. Unless otherwise advised in writing by the owner, the owner, other than having lived at or owning the property, possesses no greater knowledge than that which could be obtained by a careful inspection of the property by a potential purchaser. Unless otherwise advised, owner has not conducted any inspection of generally inaccessible areas of the property. THIS STATEMENT IS NOT A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND BY THE OWNER OR BY ANY AGENT OR SUBAGENT REPRESENTING THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY. THIS STATEMENT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANY INSPECTIONS. POTENTIAL PURCHASERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN THEIR OWN PROFESSIONAL INSPECTION."

"F) MECHANICAL SYSTEMS: Do you know of any current problems or defects with the following mechanical systems? If your property does not have the mechanical system, mark N/A (Not Applicable). ...

5) Sump pump ...

If the answer to any of the above questions is “Yes”, please describe and indicate any repairs to the mechanical system since owning the property (but not longer than the past 5 years)."

http://com.ohio.gov/real/docs/real_C...losureForm.pdf

While this form is not intended to force the current owner to make necessary repairs, in this case where the owner has apparently indicated he is aware of the problem, it might serve as a negotiating tool to adjust the selling price to help cover costs associated with correcting the problem.

Thanks for your documentation rrtechno. My memory on this subject was pretty sketchy.

[Ohioan58]

Speaking from actual experience with a similar basement problem, where the seller outright lied on the disclosure forms:

Force the seller to get this problem taken care of NOW BEFORE YOU CLOSE.

Also, even if the seller says they fixed it, check the work with your OWN EXPERT (that YOU pay - not one the realty agent or the seller pays) to make certain that it is legal before you close. It is quite probable that a seller will hire an idiot or a fraud cheaply in order to make visible changes that don't correct the problem.

Also, reject any attempt by the seller to say that so-and-so was paid by them to correct your problem "after you buy." You will get screwed for certain.

You want to go into closing with specific knowledge that the non code compliance was corrected by your seller. The seller (and almost everyone involved) will consider you being meddlesome and anal for you to press for this degree of certainty.

If you don't, then it is solely your responsibility to make your house code legal after closing.

Expect the realty agents on both sides to drag you through pure s**t and pressure you heavily to just sign so they can pocket their money.

Yes, there are laws on the books that oblige the seller to disclose certain categories of known problems. BUT once title changes hands, the law is HEAVILY on the side of the seller. Caveat emptor applies.

After you close (the title to the property changes hands), a legal action against the seller is incredibly non cost effective. You'd be in the position of spending $10000 to collect $2000 or the like.

[wolden]

Where is a sump pump supposed to drain? By "sanitary drains" does that mean it is going into the toilet/sewage system? Or does it mean its going into the outside road drains? What's the reasoning? Thanks!

[Gibaschitz]

Originally Posted by wolden

Where is a sump pump supposed to drain? By "sanitary drains" does that mean it is going into the toilet/sewage system? Or does it mean its going into the outside road drains? What's the reasoning? Thanks!

“Up and out” works. There’s no need to drain water into a pipe. The problem is easy and inexpensive to fix, especially if the sump pump is located near an outside wall.