I live in Kentucky. In 2002 I hired a plumber to install a septic tank and drain system on property I had purchased. I paid him and thought the job was done since the system had passed inspection by the local health dept and hadn't had any problem with the system.
In 2007 I sold the property. Then in spring of 2009 the new owner sued me over the septic system being defective and lacking the required cover soil. It appears he had some trouble with it and during his investigation discovered that there hadn't been sufficient cover added to the drain field during installation. Documents from the health dept indicated that the plumber was notified at the time of installation in 2002 and again in 2005 after a follow up inspection by the health dept. I was completely unaware of all this till the new owner sued me. Even though I had a sellers disclosure signed by the buyer the judge ruled against me in the amount of $730 + CC.
So, instead of appealing the decision, I decide to sue the plumber and here is where things start getting weird. Me and the plumber go to court and I present my case, showing the judge the documentation where the plumber was notified in 2002 and again in 2005 that there needed to be additional cover soil added. The plumber brought up that it was 7 years ago and I pointed out that he was notified in 2005. The judge ruled in my favor.
Five days later I get a letter in the mail from the court saying the case had been rescheduled and I would need to be in court in two days. So we head back to court. Come to find out the judge is a cousin to the defendant so he should not even have heard the case, and furthermore after consideration he isn't sure he could rule in my favor because of the statute of limitation on an unwritten contract, which is 5 yrs in KY.
So we have a new court date in 2 weeks and I'm 99.9% sure that the defendant will really harp on the statute of limitations and the judge will agree since the defendants cousin conveniently made that suggestion on the court documents that the new judge will see. My questions are:
#1 Will the documents from the health dept showing what work was to be done and documented inspections signed by the plumber constitute a written contract?
#2 With the notification in 2005 that the cover soil had not been installed restart the clock for the S.O.L?
#3 Does each day that the job was not complete constitute a new breach? #4 Should I argue that there has already been a ruling and that even though the judges are 2 different people, the court is intended to function as one entity; so any ruling different from the original would discredit the court? If the ruling was incorrect then it should be handled on appeal.