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Hello all, first time poster here... I've just moved into a house with a cesspit (not septic tank), which I have now been told is leaking somewhere. The sewage company who looked after it for the previous owner, told me that they investigated it with them and concluded that it must have been leaking somewhere (although a bit of a mystery as to where) and also checked the surrounding area and neighbours to see if it was a problem. No signs of the leak or pollution were found so they decided to ignore the issue, kind of an attitude of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
When we viewed the house, the seller told us that it all worked fine. They also reported that the tank was emptied once a year. The sewage company has also told us that this is only true because of the leak. In fact it turns out the tank is so small that if there wasn't a leak, it would have to be emptied every 16 days (based on my household).
I am annoyed that the questions put to the seller by my solicitor only asked if there was a blockage or had overflowed, to which he said no (so not technically lying). All it would have taken was the question, 'Is the tank working correctly as it should be?' or 'Is the tank leaking?', and he would have either been truthful, which would have affected my decision to buy, or he'd have lied and then I'd have a clearer course of action.
I did get a survey on the house, but the tank wasn't inspected to the degree that this would be found. I don't even know if getting a proper tank inspection before buying is a thing (presumably they'd have to empty it, inspect it, come back a month later, etc) and my solicitor said she had never heard of anybody doing it.
The seller, knowing it was leaking into the ground, was committing an offence (apparently punishable by up to £20,000 fine or 3 months in prison) and has now knowingly passed that onto me.
So now I'm wondering what course of action to take. I can ignore the problem, keep getting it emptied once a year and hope it doesn't become an issue. I'm not entirely comfortable with this and whilst there were no outward signs of the leak for the seller, my household is bigger and at home more often so our usage is higher. There might never be any problems arising from this, but at some point, I will end up having to lie to a future buyer, the way he has done to me. I can't say I'm very happy at the idea of doing this.
Or I can replace the the tank, which is obviously going to cost a bomb, not just in installation costs but subsequent emptying costs, which alone will be thousands of pounds more than he said they would be.
My main question, apart from any general advice, is do you think I have any recourse with the seller? My solicitor said she can go back and state that he knew about the leak but they are obviously going to reply that I should have found out beforehand. I'm not sure it's as simple as this, as I'm not sure how I could have found out. Not to mention the fact that, in not disclosing this information, he has passed on a criminal offence to me, quite apart from the obvious costs for putting it right.
Another question, has my solicitor been negligent in not asking the right questions to uncover this problem?
Thanks so much, please be kind. I'm reeling from this and really don't know what to do. Caught between a rock and a hard place. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get it all down.
When we viewed the house, the seller told us that it all worked fine. They also reported that the tank was emptied once a year. The sewage company has also told us that this is only true because of the leak. In fact it turns out the tank is so small that if there wasn't a leak, it would have to be emptied every 16 days (based on my household).
I am annoyed that the questions put to the seller by my solicitor only asked if there was a blockage or had overflowed, to which he said no (so not technically lying). All it would have taken was the question, 'Is the tank working correctly as it should be?' or 'Is the tank leaking?', and he would have either been truthful, which would have affected my decision to buy, or he'd have lied and then I'd have a clearer course of action.
I did get a survey on the house, but the tank wasn't inspected to the degree that this would be found. I don't even know if getting a proper tank inspection before buying is a thing (presumably they'd have to empty it, inspect it, come back a month later, etc) and my solicitor said she had never heard of anybody doing it.
The seller, knowing it was leaking into the ground, was committing an offence (apparently punishable by up to £20,000 fine or 3 months in prison) and has now knowingly passed that onto me.
So now I'm wondering what course of action to take. I can ignore the problem, keep getting it emptied once a year and hope it doesn't become an issue. I'm not entirely comfortable with this and whilst there were no outward signs of the leak for the seller, my household is bigger and at home more often so our usage is higher. There might never be any problems arising from this, but at some point, I will end up having to lie to a future buyer, the way he has done to me. I can't say I'm very happy at the idea of doing this.
Or I can replace the the tank, which is obviously going to cost a bomb, not just in installation costs but subsequent emptying costs, which alone will be thousands of pounds more than he said they would be.
My main question, apart from any general advice, is do you think I have any recourse with the seller? My solicitor said she can go back and state that he knew about the leak but they are obviously going to reply that I should have found out beforehand. I'm not sure it's as simple as this, as I'm not sure how I could have found out. Not to mention the fact that, in not disclosing this information, he has passed on a criminal offence to me, quite apart from the obvious costs for putting it right.
Another question, has my solicitor been negligent in not asking the right questions to uncover this problem?
Thanks so much, please be kind. I'm reeling from this and really don't know what to do. Caught between a rock and a hard place. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get it all down.
