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I am interested in a house, and almost completed the whole mortgage application process. However, I just found that there was a buried oil tank. The seller provided soem construction permits which stated that the tank was filled with sands in 1998. I also called the town, and the town told me that there was a certificate for the treatement. However there was no soil test proof showing that there was no contamination.
Should I still be concerned about the oil tank issue? Will I incur any trouble to get insurance or to sell house in the future?
If there are completed out permits and a certificate saying that all is well then you 'should' be fine and have no problems at all. Abandoning an oil tank in the ground that way is perfectly acceptable method.
To settle your concerns, I would request that either the seller sample the soil or hire a tank company to come and test it for you to give you some peace of mind.
I have always recommended Tank Masters . They've always taken good care of my clients.
~Joey
Last edited by joeymarine; 06-15-2011 at 09:42 AM..
Yes, be concerned. Unless there was testing and certified no contamination, you have potential issues.
Yes this is a delicate issue. You should read about NJ and environmental issues, particularly the parts where the current owner is liable for damages at the time of discovery. (and too all those in the chain of title back to when they believe the contamination first occurred).
Filing a tank and getting a certificate of compliance is often the course of action, but be aware it is only as good as the company (and their insurance carrier) who you will seek indemnification from if leakage is discovered. Theoretically that is not possible (leakage) if it was properly 'filled'. You can also get your own insurance, but I believe that is only for current usage from the servicing oil company.
Getting a certificate of compliance (or Use and Occupancy or whatever your particular town refers to) from the town is only as good as the paper it's on, for the government will not take it as a relinquishment of their right to recover damages/remediation for the public good if leakage is discovered later on.
My personal opinion would be to have the tank removed by the sellers and a certificate of no further action received from the NJ DEP prior to closing - no fuss no muss (but a majority of leakage happens to be discovered at that time). I'm sure it is in your contract anyway.
If you choose to continue with the transaction, be prepared to sign an acknowledgement and a waiver (to)from your legal representative or advisor which explains how you have been advised to have the tank removed because of the possible problems of purchasing property with an abandoned underground tank, but chose to continue anyway.
the term related with oil tank related to a certificate of no further action and removal was not in my contract. , I should visited this forum earlier
Look on the bright side. If you walk away from this house, the time you lost will be a tiny fraction of the headaches and cost if you ignored the issue and got hit later with a costly clean-up.
What's a ballpark figure of having a "problem-free" tank removed now-a-days? Nothing complicated (not under the driveway or anything like that), just a ballpark.
I don't know if it is the cost of removing the tank that would be expensive, but the cost of having the soil samples tested to ensure that nothing leaked and that there are no issues.
Without that removing the tank means nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sonofagunk
What's a ballpark figure of having a "problem-free" tank removed now-a-days? Nothing complicated (not under the driveway or anything like that), just a ballpark.
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, I should visited this forum earlier
