This is a question for an attorney, not Houzz.

I'm not speaking to an Attorney, That costs money :)

It's not our water bill, Or our problem if that is the reason the septic failed inspection.

We have the cost of replacement already in escrow with signed replacement plans, and the water bill is still in the seller's name.

I'm simply asking opinions on the situation, It doesn't sound right for the seller, I'm just asking if any of this can be attempted to be put on us, or if the seller can attempt to retract the original replacement contract over this.

An attorney will cost you a few hundred bucks. Advice here is free and worth what you pay for it.

I'm not asking for advice- I'm asking for opinions on the matter or from someone with similar experiences and how that turned out. Asking for advice would assume that I would blindly follow someone's word on the internet, Just looking for insight, not legal advice.

I have absolutely received some fantastic information in the past here and several other locations. I do not believe because its " free" makes it worthless. I have been enlightened with stories of people's experiences as well.

If your opinion is to " pay money for an answer" please don't answer. Kinda defeats the purpose if we all went around saying " pay for a designer" when we are simply asking others opinions and experiences.

If you hired someone to do an inspection and they damaged the property during that inspection then yes, you can be held responsible.

For Example, I feel the seller needs to deal with the local health department since they left it on, potentially causing a cost of nearly $16,000 that may have not been necessary. If they desire to do so.

Personally, I would have overseen the inspection, and anything else done to it. At least check on it afterward. In this scenario, he was out of the country and no one went into the home the entire time except the health department and the septic company.

I feel since the contract has already been signed, and although the work hasn't started, It should remain in place, considering.

But that's my opinion, 40,000 Gallons in septic, Seems kind of nuts to not causing an overflow. I have no experience with septic, or what should occur during a leak, or this amount of water going into it. So, I'm blank here. But Would love to hear opinions.

The health (septic) inspection was required to sell the home. We brought it up, the seller made it happen. We paid for the inspection via closing costs as requested. They deemed it failed, which took 2-3 weeks to get any information on it from the sellers.

They agreed on the repairs the health department required, we did the final walk-through and found the water left on- then we closed.

If I don't have the ability to check the home or enter the home, how do you think I would be held responsible? I personally didn't hire the septic company or the local health department.

The seller is not going to win a detrimental reliance case against the health department. If you believe the previous result was in error then you have a duty to question it. Whether that is a legal duty or a moral duty depends on the terms that established the escrow.

Some would argue that money in a trust account, such as escrow, creates a legal obligation to fully investigate suspicions. The counter argument would be the money exists to replace the septic system not to establish the need for replacement.

I don't know who wins that, but a phone call and a conversation costs you nothing.

Short answer... you are responsible for the negligence of people you hire.

If you hire an inspector for your own benefit, then recovery can be sought against you. You can then turn around and seek recovery from the inspector you hired. However, since the damaged party had an agreement with you and not the inspector, they can seek recovery from you.

Now whether or not that applies here depends on the specifics. If you or your agent never had access to the property, who let the inspector into the house?

That's good news, I didn't hire anyone Except our inspector, which has nothing to do with this scenario, we did a walkthrough, and did everything properly with photos. However, that happened at least 30 days before this issue occurred, or even knew the septic needed to be replaced. 100% unrelatable, he'd have two 40,000 gallon bills if that were the case.

We requested the seller have the septic inspected, Which was also a law when selling a home anyway. The seller hired an independent contractor of his choice for an estimate, and the health department showed up at the same time to do the testing. I have no clue who let them in, I do know he has been out of the country the entire process until closing. The health department alone came back a few days/week later to retest. No idea who let them in. From that point forward( a month before this occured), Me, or anyone related to me in the process did not enter the home until the walkthrough the day of closing, finding the water on, which we turned off.

I just wanted to clarify, it wasn't the home inspector, but the Health Department, and the seller's choice of septic services that had access to the property. We have not had access to the property in well over a month- other than driving by it.

thanks for your response, it has been helpful.

Seems like the seller will have to eat the costs, or go after the person who let them in. It wouldn't be my fault as you indicated if the seller's contractors/health department did this, which is the only possible explanation, Proven by records of who has scanned and entered the property ( the key is locked and recorded when opened and by whom).

I'm just a little worried that the agreed-upon repair may not have been necessary. But, You are correct, the addendum does not say IF, It says IT DOES need replaced and has already been agreed to be replaced since the health department 100% failed the unit, It's requirement is a complete replacement Via The health departments orders- But what if the health departments order change, after the agreement was in place? That's my main concern.

If anything comes of this, we don't have the means to fight it or pay for anything.

Had you asked before you closed my advice would have been ...

I would not have closed on a house with a bad septic system. I would have postponed closing until the seller fixed the septic system. With more stringent environmental rules for septic systems, sometimes the easy $16k septic system turns into a more complicated systems that costs $50k.

He who has the gold makes the rules. You handed over your gold and might have to come up with more of it. Buyer beware.

This was a heavy concern and we had been warned about it. The actual cost of replacement wasn't 16K, that would be 1.5X the amount, we tried to get 2X the amount but they wouldn't budge.

The health department practically has one way it can be done, with deviations for the specific soil type. Other than that it's all set in stone unless an " issue" pops up when the job begins. ATL system with a 1000G tank will be installed.

the health department shows, if one part fails and cannot be repaired without replacement, the entire system must be replaced with a very specific system.

The seller did not have the funds for the repair, so it was either escrow or no dice. Everything else in our area for the last 6 months has been listed for at least 50K over our budget. This one is a bit cheaper due to being a "small ways" out.

Just crossing my fingers with it, Seems like things keep popping up everywhere about this home purchase.

I think the proper term nowadays would be Toilet paper instead of gold :)

Like Homechef says... the water bill will be charged to the previous owner, not you. On the day of closing, it became your responsibility. And, the seller signed lien waivers at closing stating that all contractors and vendors have been paid in full.

In my opinion, the only way to sufficiently protect yourself is to notify the health department and see if they want to retest. This is an escrow and not a negotiated discount. There are certain duties that come with escrows, I don't care what verbiage the addendum used to establish the escrow contains, those duties will usually supersede that addendum. The safest way to proceed is to contact the health department or see an attorney. Or you can hope the seller doesn't find out about your suspicion, because that water bill will no longer be the problem.

I would not have closed without this billing having been handled at escrow. That said, you can prove when you took over the house and the former owner should be billed.

Thanks,

I wasn't aware of the bill or usage until two days after closing.

I have notified our realtor, which notified the owner. Found out today a toilet valve was also leaking, using about 25 gallons a day. ( I took photos of the meter).

Everything has been switched or put into place to be switched into our name. The water company made no mention of the previous bill at all.

The health department and the septic installation is still overseen by the seller Via the contract, Last time I called, I was told they had to speak to the " seller".

At any rate, We are just going to move in and whatever happens, happens I guess.

I know we were fine with buying it before the septic was an issue, So If it needs to be replaced, or doesn't, either way, the toilet will still flush. If it actually doesn't need to be replaced, that is on the seller to figure out, We've got enough on our plates with running our business and raising four children. It is, after all, His money and of no benefit to us to do anything other than what is required by the health department.

If for some reason Something stupid comes up, we can always get a lawyer and drop the mortgage to try and recoup costs from the sellers. Worst case scenario we are out $12,000.

We own our current location, and the cost of upkeep will be less than most people's internet bill per month. We'll just keep that on the back burner for a while just in case.

Thanks for the answers.