My front yard is a mess from whoever the previous owner hired

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Dec 7, 2012
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I wanted to see if you all thought what I am thinking sounds reasonable.

In November of 2019, my wife and our closed on our first house. We have a septic system. Probably around September-October, we were informed that the dye-test performed by the Erie County DOH failed and that the seller would have to make the necessary corrections... so new absorption trench. Time went on, and we closed in early November. When inquiring about the absorption trench, we were told a couple of different answers. One, that it was completed, and two that it would be done in the Spring as it had started snowing and seemed like winter was here.

So we were prepared to wait until spring. No real concern for us. As far as we knew, we were not anticipating anyone coming onto our property or doing any sort of work.

A week after we moved in (week after we closed) my wife and I came home to a huge mound of dirt, gravel, huge ruts in the front yard, chunks of PVC, etc. So we assumed the absorption trench was done just then and there.

OK fine, winter came and now it is finally spring. My wife called our lawyer once and they told us "Yes the work is all done and the dirt is yours to keep".

So that strikes me as odd. I am happy that it is all set, but I would expect the yard to be re-grated and seeded. As it stands, my yard is a mess. Also, they messed up a good portion of my neighbor's grass next to her driveway -- that isn't a good impression for the new people to the neighborhood to make. I am thinking I should contact my lawyer again and see what the deal is and get this taken care of.

My biggest question to you all is, am I expecting too much to have a yard somewhat resembling the properly and house that I agreed to and bought. I feel like the lack of communication is also a problem. The guys who did the work -- shouldn't they be contacting me before even going onto my property. I can understand many things, but just seems like since the date of closing -- I have assumed the property and for all intents and purposes this could be considered trespassing. Not that I would take it that far or really do consider it such, but I guess I'm expecting more (different approach)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Good evening all.
 
Something isn't right. If I had bought the property and somebody comes on it without my permission, does some kind of work, leaves a mess and just leaves????? That somebody would be getting sued from my (your's) lawyer. How do you know the work is done? Done right? Was it inspected by Erie County DOH? Did you get the paper work saying all was good?
I smell a rat.
 
Originally Posted by oldhp
Something isn't right. If I had bought the property and somebody comes on it without my permission, does some kind of work, leaves a mess and just leaves????? That somebody would be getting sued from my (your's) lawyer. How do you know the work is done? Done right? Was it inspected by Erie County DOH? Did you get the paper work saying all was good?
I smell a rat.


You're right, I do not know if anything is done whatsoever. I am just assuming. I think I need to get on the horn.
 
You need to get in writing that the work is done along with a certificate of inspection by the governing authority. Also a guarantee for the work that was done. The yard should be restored to a condition that resembles what it was before the work was done. Any damage to your neighbor should also be taken care of. Call your attorney.
 
The company that did the work were probably in the dark about who owned the house now. I would say politely that "when will you come back and finish raking and seed the area?" See how that goes. If they get nasty you can tell them you will talk to your lawyer. But try it nice first. But they have no right to come onto your property for any reason and mess it up even if its to fix a septic issue.

It would have been better to have the seller put the money in escrow and let you hire someone to take care of the septic issue.

They should have had the work inspected by the building dept in your town before it was covered up. Ask for that approval certificate.
 
The way that this is normally handled is with a hold back after the closing. Typically it's a negotiated amount but you try to say it will be 1.5 times the cost in case of overruns. Attorney holds the funds in escrow. You have a deadline and you release the rest of the funds in escrow when you're satisfied with the work. The seller gets the rest of the funds back once it's done. This standard procedure pressures the seller to get things done before closing or you have recourse after the closing.

But as others said, as them to restore it to the previous condition and see what they say.
 
Be thankful you are not required to have an aerobic septic system. I have one and its $300/year for a service contract that you are required to have. Then cost of pump-out if needed. Then any parts that fail (its got an electric pump and controls).
 
No one is going to look out for your best interests but yourself. Many contractors will happily walk away from a job partly done where there's no accountability beyond passing the last inspection.

You may be on the hook for reseeding. I never cared for the quality of grass seed used by construction/excavation contractors, anyway. Piles of dirt, on the other hand, sounds like a cut-rate job.
 
Also, keep in mind that the areas where they dug pits or trenches, and then filled back in, will continue to settle and sink for months/years. You will likely need some extra dirt for this. Dirt... not clay.

Backfilling the pits and trenches carefully will help to minimize this... but from your description, I would doubt that anything was backfllled carefully.

It would seem to be common sense that someone is responsible for repairing and restoring the yard (and especially the neighbor's yard) to its previous condition.
 
Originally Posted by redhat
I wanted to see if you all thought what I am thinking sounds reasonable.

In November of 2019, my wife and our closed on our first house. We have a septic system. Probably around September-October, we were informed that the dye-test performed by the Erie County DOH failed and that the seller would have to make the necessary corrections... so new absorption trench. Time went on, and we closed in early November. When inquiring about the absorption trench, we were told a couple of different answers. One, that it was completed, and two that it would be done in the Spring as it had started snowing and seemed like winter was here.

So we were prepared to wait until spring. No real concern for us. As far as we knew, we were not anticipating anyone coming onto our property or doing any sort of work.

A week after we moved in (week after we closed) my wife and I came home to a huge mound of dirt, gravel, huge ruts in the front yard, chunks of PVC, etc. So we assumed the absorption trench was done just then and there.

OK fine, winter came and now it is finally spring. My wife called our lawyer once and they told us "Yes the work is all done and the dirt is yours to keep".

So that strikes me as odd. I am happy that it is all set, but I would expect the yard to be re-grated and seeded. As it stands, my yard is a mess. Also, they messed up a good portion of my neighbor's grass next to her driveway -- that isn't a good impression for the new people to the neighborhood to make. I am thinking I should contact my lawyer again and see what the deal is and get this taken care of.

My biggest question to you all is, am I expecting too much to have a yard somewhat resembling the properly and house that I agreed to and bought. I feel like the lack of communication is also a problem. The guys who did the work -- shouldn't they be contacting me before even going onto my property. I can understand many things, but just seems like since the date of closing -- I have assumed the property and for all intents and purposes this could be considered trespassing. Not that I would take it that far or really do consider it such, but I guess I'm expecting more (different approach)?

Thanks for your thoughts. Good evening all.




There was no reason to seed in November. Grass won't survive the winter.

Contractor call you? Hmm...maybe, maybe not. He may or may not know that the house sold. He was contracted by the property seller, not by you.

Just grade the soil over that spot yourself and call it a day. You're a young guy and you're going to spend hours in your yard fiddling around until you're in your 60's or 70;s. As others have said the soil will re-settle
 
I would make sure all the require inspections were performed and passed. The old owner was sunsetted. You are not. Depending on jurisdiction, you can not be allowed to occupy or sell the property. I know of a new house with a nonconforming system in a unsuitable area. They now have a huge holding tank in the yard, and must call a honey wagon every month to have it pumped, at a cost of about $100 minimum. The builder is long gone, no one to sue. House is not worth nearly what it could have been. There is a sophisticated system they want, their state does not recognize it yet, or ever. That system will cost them about 15K minimum. Currently they spend around 2K a year for the sewer pumping, long payback. Oh, and in the summer, when the wind is just right, you can smell microbes in the new tank doing what microbes do.

Rod
 
We went through similar situations with our house. The stuff that was supposed to get fixed never was so I ended up doing it myself. The PO's were real POS's.

Assuming the septic work is done, I'd do the yard work myself.
 
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I have learned the hard way not to buy a house until after that kind of work is done. However if you really like the house you risk loosing it to someone else willing to buy it with the repairs incomplete.

In the end it sounds like a relatively minor issue in the grand scheme of things, aggravating for sure but not a huge thing. Try to get them to fix it, but at the end of the day if you have to relent and deal with it yourself so be it.

Don't think a new house is any better BTW. I found it to be most aggravating dealing with a builder for warranty issues myself, vs dealing with an old house.
 
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