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Complicated question

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LadyWolf55

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri

2 1/2 years ago, we bought a 3.75 acre farm. The next door neighbor was the previous owner's father. He had purchased the farm 5 years before we purchased ours, and subdivided the land.

Our house was the original house (built in 1945) on 140 acres. The neighbor built another house on the hill behind our house, three years before we bought this one, and then he sold the original house to his daughter, completely renovated and with only 3.75 acres. The way he divided the land was really wacky. His daughter sold us the house in Dec 2002 when she had financial difficulties. Her father lost his new house in bankruptcy Nov 2003.

Unbeknownst to us, the laterals for our septic tank flow 50 ft down into the yard of the neighbor, because that land used to belong to our house originally. After the neighbor lost it in bankruptcy a year after we purchased our house. The bank sold it to another couple in May 2004, who now want us to move our laterals, since they started to seep into their front lawn (at least 200 yds from the front of their house) this spring.

Our laterals have been there since 1945, apparently. The original owner of this farm is in his eighties, and confirms this.

Do WE have an obligation to move/maintain our laterals on their property? Can they cap off our laterals and back up our septic system, even though they purchased their property with our laterals already there? (They are threatening to do this)
 
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LadyWolf55

Junior Member
Please help.. perhaps I should be more specific......

The laterals are not "leaking", per se, but are making the grass grow faster than the rest of the grass. This is what is making the new neighbor upset.

The laterals apparently have been there the past 60 years, with replacement done when necessary, in the same area. There is NO other place on this property to put new ones, due to the wacko way the former neighbor split the land. Even the barn that used to be with this property is now with the other property. Our house sits on a hill made of solid rock with very little topsoil. The place where the laterals are, was the only logical place to put them. Moving them would leave us with NO way to get rid of our sewage, as we live way out in the country, with no sewer system available.

When the former owner split the property, he failed to list an easement for the septic system on the title, as he had planned for this to be a "family compound" the rest of his life. It just didn't work out that way, and now we have a real problem on our hands. Could this be a disclosure violation of the former owners?

Can anyone help with this question, please?
 

shortbus

Member
You don't need an explicit easement. Because there was a split property you may have gained an easement by implication, or failing that, an easement by prescription. All of these are just as valid as an easement by deed.

Consult a real estate lawyer to find out how to have your interest in the neighbor's property legally recognized.
 

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