Can you sell a house in NJ if guest house has a Cesspool? (commission, sale)
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In contract on a house in Warren county- inspection turned up 3 cesspools. 2 cesspools service the 3-bedroom main house and 1 cesspool services the 1 bedroom 1 bath guesthouse. Seller refuses to address the cesspool for the guest house. They have offered to do a 3-bedroom septic for the main house and say that the cesspool for the guest house is on us. They claim the law does not apply to “outbuildings” and that they can legally sell the house with the cesspool serving the second house on the property. Is this true?
You'd be better off contacting the Warren County Health Department for your answer. A phone number can be found at this link: County of Warren, NJ - Health Department
Whether or not they can legally convey the property, however, you'd need to decide if you'd want to be stuck paying for removing the cesspool and putting in another septic system--and whether there is actually room for another septic system on-site. As you likely know, putting in septic systems can be very expensive.
In contract on a house in Warren county- inspection turned up 3 cesspools. 2 cesspools service the 3-bedroom main house and 1 cesspool services the 1 bedroom 1 bath guesthouse. Seller refuses to address the cesspool for the guest house. They have offered to do a 3-bedroom septic for the main house and say that the cesspool for the guest house is on us. They claim the law does not apply to “outbuildings” and that they can legally sell the house with the cesspool serving the second house on the property. Is this true?
The seller is wrong. NJDEP, not the County Board of Health has final word on this issue. See my response to your post in the New Jersey forum:
I've read your reply in the OP's other thread in the NJ forum. Based solely on the information that you provided, it appears that the transaction could legally occur, but that the OP would no longer be able to continue use of the cesspool after the transfer. It would be rather foolish to buy a property with those restrictions--at least without confirming that there is adequate room to install another system and the costs involved. Still, it would be best to have everything resolved before purchasing the property, if the OP intends to go through with the purchase.
Quote:
(c) A cesspool that is not malfunctioning may continue to serve the structure after a real property transfer only in the following circumstances:
Further questions should be directed to the County Health Department and to the OP's attorney.
I've read your reply in the OP's other thread in the NJ forum. Based solely on the information that you provided, it appears that the transaction could legally occur, but that the OP would no longer be able to continue use of the cesspool after the transfer. It would be rather foolish to buy a property with those restrictions--at least without confirming that there is adequate room to install another system and the costs involved. Still, it would be best to have everything resolved before purchasing the property, if the OP intends to go through with the purchase.
What I took from the OP's post was that the seller basically told him that according to NJ law that he could legally transfer the property to the OP via a conventional sale and that the OP could continue to use the guest house with the existing cesspool since it is not tied in with the primary dwelling. The OP then pushed back on that and the seller essentially said "fine, but since replacement of the cesspool is not required by law (so they claim), you can pay to have a system installed to service the guest house." The NJ law governing subsurface disposal systems is perfectly clear that functioning cesspools can only continue to be used under very narrow circumstances and this is not one of them, so the seller is still wrong in saying that the OP could buy the property and continue to use the guest house with cesspool simply because it is not the primary dwelling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackmichigan
Further questions should be directed to the County Health Department and to the OP's attorney.
In all honesty, further questions would be better directed to an experienced engineer who has designed many septic systems in that particular county. Attorneys (and Realtors) tend to be quite limited in their knowledge of N.J.A.C.7:9A in my experience. They see septic issues as an annoyance that slows down transactions and would rather muddle through in the interest of closing. Hiring a good engineer is your best bet to end up with a good system that will last many years with proper care. A situation like this presents many possibilities-depending on how close the structures are to one another (and the existing site conditions) it may be better to install a four bedroom (or more, if expansion of either structure is desired in the future) septic system that serves both structures. Or, if they are not close enough, two separate systems with room for future expansion.
What I took from the OP's post was that the seller basically told him that according to NJ law that he could legally transfer the property to the OP via a conventional sale AND that the OP could continue to use the guest house with the existing cesspool since it is not tied in with the primary dwelling. The OP then pushed back on that and the seller essentially said "fine, but since replacement of the cesspool is not required by law (so they claim), you can pay to have a system installed to service the guest house." The NJ law governing subsurface disposal systems is perfectly clear that functioning cesspools can only continue to be used under very narrow circumstances and this is not one of them, so the seller is still wrong in saying that the OP could buy the property and continue to use the guest house with cesspool simply because it is not the primary dwelling.
Our understandings of the situation are somewhat different. Perhaps the OP could clarify.
My understanding was that the Seller said that they would pay to take care of the cesspool for the house, but that the OP would need to pay to take care of the cesspool for the guesthouse on their own. To wit:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirktuck
They have offered to do a 3-bedroom septic for the main house and say that the cesspool for the guest house is on us.
That was followed by a somewhat confusing two-part scenario:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirktuck
They claim the law does not apply to “outbuildings” and that they can legally sell the house with the cesspool serving the second house on the property. Is this true?
The part about the "outbuilding" is pure BS, but the Seller, according to the citation you provided, could legally sell the property with the cesspool intact, if the OP agreed to that. It's just that the OP could no longer use that cesspool and would need to pay out of his own pocket to take care of it after the closing.
I mentioned the Health Department or attorney as sources of verifying information only to the point as to whether the Seller could legally sell the property without first removing the cesspool. I wholeheartedly agree that your suggestion below is the most important aspect to consider. Consulting with a professional on the whole issue surrounding the septic system is a given.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Swamp_Yankee
In all honesty, further questions would be better directed to an experienced engineer who has designed many septic systems in that particular county. Attorneys (and Realtors) tend to be quite limited in their knowledge of N.J.A.C.7:9A in my experience. They see septic issues as an annoyance that slows down transactions and would rather muddle through in the interest of closing. Hiring a good engineer is your best bet to end up with a good system that will last many years with proper care. A situation like this presents many possibilities-depending on how close the structures are to one another (and the existing site conditions) it may be better to install a four bedroom (or more, if expansion of either structure is desired in the future) septic system that serves both structures. Or, if they are not close enough, two separate systems with room for future expansion.
Now I get where you're coming from. It's absolutely legal to sell a property with an active cesspool, it's just that the cesspool has to be decommissioned upon execution of the transaction and cannot be used unless the transaction meets one of the 14 exemptions. Normally this is pretty routine in that you're dealing with one cesspool which is the sole means of disposing of wastewater on the property. In that case the only option and normal course of action is to simply replace the cesspool with a septic system.
In this case, the main house will be taken care of but the question is what to do with the guest house. An interesting thought would be whether or not the guest house cesspool could simply be properly abandoned and the guest house no longer considered habitable which could potentially save the OP money on the transaction in the short run and on property taxes in the long run-assuming he had no need for the guest house to actually be a guest house. Of course, the guest house is also likely an existing non-conforming use and converting it to a non-habitable structure would jeopardize that. Probably a good idea to speak with the town Zoning Officer and Tax Assessor as well.
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