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Sorry man but you are DREAMING if you think that anything you described is grandfathered in or remotely legal. I'm surprised that the utility guy didn't turn you in.
And now you want someone else to pay? You HAD a absolute beauty of a case ( I truthfully mean that ) against the owner and very likely probably the inspector and even the realtor and whoever else you wanna choose that had anything to do with the house and sewer inspection . But since you touched you now freaking own it illegal and all. You should if immediately called a RE lawyer and both agents. You should of sued the pants off the owner for this.
And you're on well water. Holy crap literally. I would not drink your tap water
And your BIL can also be held liable for doing a illegal repair.
Wait till you try and sell the house. You're gonna have to fix it. Good luck man.
Sue who? The OP bought a bank owned property as is. They bought it 5 YEARS ago. Ever hear of a thing called the statute of limitations? All buyers must do their own due diligence. Clearly they didn't. That's on them!
A pond someone has dumped sewage in is NOT a cesspool, it's just an open pool of sewage at this point. A cesspool is very similar to a septic tank, usually having no bottom and have to be pumped out occasionally.
What you have is an illegal system, if anything you better hope your neighbor doesn't find out about it. The existence of a dock and float/raft shows at one time people may have swam in the pond.
Imagine those poor unknowing folks? Hey Bob there's a lotta logs in here! Why are they so small?
Sue who? The OP bought a bank owned property as is. They bought it 5 YEARS ago. Ever hear of a thing called the statute of limitations? All buyers must do their own due diligence. Clearly they didn't. That's on them!
You sue the ****ing inspector and the bank. You're running into DISCLOSURES and OMISSIONS. It's not a simple you bought it it's your problem. Just because its bank owned doesn't mean they are not responsible. I didn't realize it was bought 5 years ago. I read it as it was relatively recent purchase. Even so you're talking about a major environmental issue. Companies have been sued for dumping things way further back than 5 years. This isn't a case of something just broken after moving in. It's a illegally installed sewer line dumping into what was once a pond. Deliberately. I don't see why you can't retroactively sue for something like this. I would try that before shelling out 25k. So it's not as cut and dried as you seem to say.
You sue the ****ing inspector and the bank. You're running into DISCLOSURES and OMISSIONS. It's not a simple you bought it it's your problem. Just because its bank owned doesn't mean they are not responsible. I didn't realize it was bought 5 years ago. I read it as it was relatively recent purchase. Even so you're talking about a major environmental issue. Companies have been sued for dumping things way further back than 5 years. This isn't a case of something just broken after moving in. It's a illegally installed sewer line dumping into what was once a pond. Deliberately. I don't see why you can't retroactively sue for something like this. I would try that before shelling out 25k. So it's not as cut and dried as you seem to say.
When you buy a house "AS IS" that means it's AS IS. It was a foreclosure so it was AS IS. You can have an inspection, however, inspections don't catch everything. Read an inspection contract....you can't sue them and win. This bought 5 YEARS ago! There's nothing to do about it accept it and fix it.
A lawsuit can easily and quickly cost $25K. Why not take that money and fix the problem instead? At least, the problem will be fixed. With a lawsuit, there's absolutely no guarantees. Collecting is not as easy as it sounds. Just because one wins a lawsuit doesn't mean they ever see a dime.
You sue the ****ing inspector and the bank. You're running into DISCLOSURES and OMISSIONS. It's not a simple you bought it it's your problem. Just because its bank owned doesn't mean they are not responsible. I didn't realize it was bought 5 years ago. I read it as it was relatively recent purchase. Even so you're talking about a major environmental issue. Companies have been sued for dumping things way further back than 5 years. This isn't a case of something just broken after moving in. It's a illegally installed sewer line dumping into what was once a pond. Deliberately. I don't see why you can't retroactively sue for something like this. I would try that before shelling out 25k. So it's not as cut and dried as you seem to say.
Bank foreclosures always sell AS-IS, with NO disclosures from the bank. That's just because of issues such as this, and the buyer has NO legal recourse after purchase, because they specifically acknowledge they are buying with that stipulation in effect. IF they had found this before buying, they could have backed out or attempted to get the bank to fix it BEFORE they bought. Now, IF he can PROVE they knew about this specific issue and covered it up before he bought, he MAY have a good case.
House inspectors contracts specifically say the ONLY recourse, is the return of whatever was paid for the inspection. So, maybe the OP will get back his $300 inspection fee, but that's all he's entitled to.
Of course in these days, you can try to sue for nearly anything. However, I do NOT think the OP has the money to attempt that, and any legit lawyer most likely won't take something like this on contingency.
It's a bad situation, but IMO he has very little recourse in this case.
Good luck getting a mortgage now, because since he now knows about it, he MUST disclose this issue to his bank, and it's going to be costly to get it all fixed.
You sue the ****ing inspector and the bank. You're running into DISCLOSURES and OMISSIONS. It's not a simple you bought it it's your problem. Just because its bank owned doesn't mean they are not responsible. I didn't realize it was bought 5 years ago. I read it as it was relatively recent purchase. Even so you're talking about a major environmental issue. Companies have been sued for dumping things way further back than 5 years. This isn't a case of something just broken after moving in. It's a illegally installed sewer line dumping into what was once a pond. Deliberately. I don't see why you can't retroactively sue for something like this. I would try that before shelling out 25k. So it's not as cut and dried as you seem to say.
There are WASTEWATER TREATMENT PONDS. Whether they are legal in your jurisdiction is in question. My father-in-law had to shut his down for a mobile home park when a government sewage system was constructed. In your case, a WWTP might be legal. It may be that previous owners made a deal with the pond owner. Just because it is a pond does not mean necessarily mean illegal. With that said, WWTPs must be fenced in with warning signs posted. Even so, some youngsters got inside my FIL pond at night to go frog gigging and did not know what they were wading in.
When you buy a house "AS IS" that means it's AS IS. It was a foreclosure so it was AS IS. You can have an inspection, however, inspections don't catch everything. Read an inspection contract....you can't sue them and win. This bought 5 YEARS ago! There's nothing to do about it accept it and fix it.
A lawsuit can easily and quickly cost $25K. Why not take that money and fix the problem instead? At least, the problem will be fixed. With a lawsuit, there's absolutely no guarantees. Collecting is not as easy as it sounds. Just because one wins a lawsuit doesn't mean they ever see a dime.
As is does not mean as is. If you sold a property and knew or should have known it had a major environmental shortcoming you had to disclose it. I would also suspect an inspector who said a septic was working without opening it would be in trouble...even years later. Though I suspect the inspector said no such thing. He simply observed the commodes worked correctly.
Any way this one calls for a local RE attorney. This one is bad enough and the risk is high enough that an attorney iis called for. OP needs a strategy to escape this mess. And that requires good local RE legal advice.
Bank foreclosures always sell AS-IS, with NO disclosures from the bank. That's just because of issues such as this, and the buyer has NO legal recourse after purchase, because they specifically acknowledge they are buying with that stipulation in effect. IF they had found this before buying, they could have backed out or attempted to get the bank to fix it BEFORE they bought. Now, IF he can PROVE they knew about this specific issue and covered it up before he bought, he MAY have a good case.
House inspectors contracts specifically say the ONLY recourse, is the return of whatever was paid for the inspection. So, maybe the OP will get back his $300 inspection fee, but that's all he's entitled to.
Of course in these days, you can try to sue for nearly anything. However, I do NOT think the OP has the money to attempt that, and any legit lawyer most likely won't take something like this on contingency.
It's a bad situation, but IMO he has very little recourse in this case.
Good luck getting a mortgage now, because since he now knows about it, he MUST disclose this issue to his bank, and it's going to be costly to get it all fixed.
Banks don't even warrant a clear title. All they sell is their interest in the property. If there are liens against the property, or any other unfortunate condition like a sewage leak, it's your problem from day one. They just want the property off their books, and that is how the contract is written. If someone doesn't understand due diligence, they probably better keep their money in their pocket.
I would never buy rural property without a well test that included both gpm and water quality, and a septic inspection. I would also want structural, electrical and plumbing inspections. I would never buy property without a title search and title insurance. That's a few hundred bucks worth of inspections against thousands of dollars of unanticipated expenses.
There are WASTEWATER TREATMENT PONDS. Whether they are legal in your jurisdiction is in question. My father-in-law had to shut his down for a mobile home park when a government sewage system was constructed. In your case, a WWTP might be legal. It may be that previous owners made a deal with the pond owner. Just because it is a pond does not mean necessarily mean illegal. With that said, WWTPs must be fenced in with warning signs posted. Even so, some youngsters got inside my FIL pond at night to go frog gigging and did not know what they were wading in.
Good luck with this.
To be clear ... there ARE "wastewater treatment ponds," but any random pond you dump waste in isn't the same thing.
As you alluded to with the fencing, etc, they have to be built to certain specs, and the situation in the OP doesn't count.
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Hey Bob there's a lotta logs in here! Why are they so small? 
