Bought farmhouse and well is dry

[Cj7jeep187]

My wife and I just purchased an old farmhouse and the sellers disclosure said the well was 80 - 90 ft deep and the inspection report said pressure was good. Turns out the well is only 38 ft deep and empty now. So we have to pay $8,000 to drill a new well and install a new water system. I'd like to try and get some money back from the old homeowners to help with this. Do we have any options for going back to the previous owners since the disclosure was not true? Thanks in advance.

 

[TigerD]

My wife and I just purchased an old farmhouse and the sellers disclosure said the well was 80 - 90 ft deep and the inspection report said pressure was good. Turns out the well is only 38 ft deep and empty now. So we have to pay $8,000 to drill a new well and install a new water system. I'd like to try and get some money back from the old homeowners to help with this. Do we have any options for going back to the previous owners since the disclosure was not true? Thanks in advance.

What did your inspector say about the discrepancy?

TD

 

[justalayman]

in some states you are likely sol. In some you have a very good case for recompense. Given you have not provided the state involved it is impossible to tell you which might be applicable to you.

 

[LdiJ]

in some states you are likely sol. In some you have a very good case for recompense. Given you have not provided the state involved it is impossible to tell you which might be applicable to you.

I agree, and therefore I recommend that you run it by a local real estate company. Certainly its a very material disclosure error but a local attorney will better know your chances of winning a case.

 

[Cj7jeep187]

Didn't realized I deleted the state portion. I'm in PA and my realtor thinks there might be recourse against the inspector or the homeowner but recommended speaking to a lawyer.

 

[John Se]

My wife and I just purchased an old farmhouse and the sellers disclosure said the well was 80 - 90 ft deep and the inspection report said pressure was good. Turns out the well is only 38 ft deep and empty now. So we have to pay $8,000 to drill a new well and install a new water system. I'd like to try and get some money back from the old homeowners to help with this. Do we have any options for going back to the previous owners since the disclosure was not true? Thanks in advance.

That sounds quite a bit different from what the seller stated, where were they getting their water from? You say its dry, did any one turn on a faucet? Have you verified any of this personally?

 

[Cj7jeep187]

To clarify a little, the water worked for 3 weeks after we purchased the home and then stopped suddenly. After bringing someone out to inspect, they found the old hand dug well under the sun porch, which we didn't know, and that the water level dropped below the pump pick up level thus no more water in the house.

 

[Zigner]

To clarify a little, the water worked for 3 weeks after we purchased the home and then stopped suddenly. After bringing someone out to inspect, they found the old hand dug well under the sun porch, which we didn't know, and that the water level dropped below the pump pick up level thus no more water in the house.

Perhaps they didn't know the depth and were relying on information given to them from the previous owner? And, perhaps the pressure was good the last time it was inspected?

 

[xylene]

Get a second quote on the well too.

 

[FarmerJ]

Since your on private well then what about your septic system ? what do you know of it ? is it brand new or relatively newer or is it ancient ? ancient includes installed so long ago before so called codes for septic systems were written ( like settling tank (s) that drain to rock ditch - straight pipe system or drain field ? or is it a old style cesspool tank any records as to the last time it was pumped? does your county have a recorded date for its install ?

 

[Dave1952]

If the water level is below the pickup then how deep is the well and what is the water level? Are you having a drought? I'm wondering if the pickup is down 38' but the well is far deeper. That might be a cheap fix.
Have you asked your neighbors about their wells?

 

[Cj7jeep187]

The previous owner lived there since 1958 and the well looks to be original from the late 1800's (house was built in 1870). It does have an old cess pool septic system right now which we are aware of, had it inspected, and everything is functioning properly. The well itself is only 38 ft deep and we can see the bottom with a flashlight when we open up the cover. We're getting a new well drilled on Wednesday and I think we're going to approach the old homeowners with something like "Based on your incorrect information on the sellers disclosure the well was misrepresented and because we'd rather not get lawyers involved, would you be willing to come to a reasonable agreement to help with the cost of the new well?" How does that sound?

 

[TigerD]

I think we're going to approach the old homeowners with something like "Based on your incorrect information on the sellers disclosure the well was misrepresented and because we'd rather not get lawyers involved, would you be willing to come to a reasonable agreement to help with the cost of the new well?" How does that sound?

It sounds like the kind of threat that would cause most intelligent people to lawyer up.

TD

 

[Cj7jeep187]

Thanks for the help.

 

[John Se]

To clarify a little, the water worked for 3 weeks after we purchased the home and then stopped suddenly. After bringing someone out to inspect, they found the old hand dug well under the sun porch, which we didn't know, and that the water level dropped below the pump pick up level thus no more water in the house.

This now sounds like the previous owner did not use water greater than the ability of the well to produce. Now you have moved in possibly using more water and you exceed the ability of the well recover. Did perhaps one person live their before and now you have moved in six, this would dramatically increase water usage, plus other uses like landscaping, washing cars lots of laundry.

But in reality having a hand dug well from the 1870's I would call functionally obsolete and fully depreciated, there should have been a price adjustment for that, also a cesspool septic system is not the greatest, if you are putting extra load on it then you can expect it to fail also. So drilling and casing a well so its brings the house way up to 1900's technology is a good investment.