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The pit in our front yard...

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suehuntzinger

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California

We bought a house last January and have been renovating. In the process of digging a new sewer line for the new master bathroom, they found an old, abandoned seepage pit for a septic system. The house was built in 1961 and was connected to the sewer system in 1977. The city inspector says it has to be filled according to regulations, which includes finding and removing the tank, and filling the tank space and the seepage pit with "slurry" (part dirt, part cement). Our contractor is telling us this will cost somewhere around $15,000. The city planning office says that no one in the office recognizes the signature of the inspector that originally signed off on the new sewer connection (something about 'Public Works' being in charge of 'such things' in 1977). My questions are: Since a city inspector signed off on this, isn't the city responsible for making certain the septic system was removed properly? and, do we have any recourse in this matter?
 


Answer: You will foot the bill. The city is not liable here, period.

The only possible recourse is if the previous owner did it and defrauded you about it. Who knows, maybe back then it was handled correctly...regs change.
 

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