Any lawyers in the house?

[adsm08]

Need some legal advice here.

We bought our house about 4 months ago now. Bought it from an older couple who seem to have never touched the yard, aside form cutting down some trees in the front.

The people who lived here before were, by all accounts from the neighbors, pigs. They were annoying, obnoxious, dirty, and used the back yard as a trash dump/dirt track.


Now come summer and the dogs are digging, as dogs do. And they are finding anything and everything you can think of. To date a short list of things they have found:

Carpet
shoes
bathing suits
silverware
glass beer bottles
aluminum beer cars
plastic children's toys
batteries


that is not a compete list, its just some of the screwier/more dangerous stuff.



Now I know of a case recently where the owner of a local construction company was caught burying his garbage in the fields on his farm and was made to pay out to remove the garbage and recondition the ground.


I'm wondering if our TRS legal minds think there is even a remote chance that we can track down the aforementioned previous previous owners and, with enough testimony from the neighbors, do something similar here. Basically force them to pay to clean up their mess, which at this point would almost require the tilling over and sifting through the top few inches and then re-filling and sodding the yard.

 

[strvger]

most communities have free resources for finding answers to this kind of question. maybe check through the local library or community services office. perhaps a local law college or one that offers at least some law classes? even most lawyers will offer a free 1st visit to answer the question at least.
good luck for sure !!

 

[OrangeBowl]

You likely signed something after the inspection of the house and property saying you accept the real estate as is....however I'm sure there's someone else with much more knowledge of such situations than me,especially in your part of the country.Might be worth a legal consultation?

 

[--weezl--]

i'm going to go with you probably bought it "as is" but it wouldn't hurt to even go to a lawyer's office with some paperwork and pay the $50 for the first meeting with them to discuss the viability of the case...

 

[BlueChariot]

You likely signed something after the inspection of the house and property saying you accept the real estate as is....however I'm sure there's someone else with much more knowledge of such situations than me,especially in your part of the country.Might be worth a legal consultation?

It would make sense that there would be laws to protect homebuyers from things they can't possibley know is wrong that a previous owner caused. As others have said, I'd do research and/or seek some free/afforable legal advice to see what your options are. If you can't get the problem fixed on the Pig's dime, I suggest you get a metal detector and borrow a few more dogs and start treasure huntin'.

 

[Mac]

Love Canal is a good example of people buying homes in good faith, not knowing it had been a toxic waste dump. Sure your eqivalent of a DNR might be able to help. Kind of sucks the way some people live.
Dave

 

[Doofy]

If you have your own well, I'd get excited. All kinds of nasty crap can leech in to the water table. If you get your water from a public water system, I doubt if it could get contaminated. Sounds like a nightmare and could prove fatal to your pets.

 

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

You likely signed something after the inspection of the house and property saying you accept the real estate as is....however I'm sure there's someone else with much more knowledge of such situations than me,especially in your part of the country.Might be worth a legal consultation?

'As is' generally refers to the condition as it appears (as is/as shown), not hidden/buried hazards deliberately placed. And there is no possible argument that the buried trash was an accident.

Speak with someone at the county level regarding the 'buried treasure' and your concerns re your well (if exists), and if necessary get an attorney and start action.

 

[adsm08]

i'm going to go with you probably bought it "as is" but it wouldn't hurt to even go to a lawyer's office with some paperwork and pay the $50 for the first meeting with them to discuss the viability of the case...

All house and real estate sales in my state are "as is", but there are always exceptions to that rule. Particularly for things that the sellers wouldn't know about or that wouldn't show on the inspection (ie the buried garbage).

Home inspections don't require digging up patches of the yard to look for things that shouldn't be there around here.

If you have your own well, I'd get excited. All kinds of nasty crap can leech in to the water table. If you get your water from a public water system, I doubt if it could get contaminated. Sounds like a nightmare and could prove fatal to your pets.

There is a well on the property, but the local cannery accidentally contaminated the water table here and then paid to have everyone in the area put on city water. The well is capped, disconnected, and not an issue.

I am more concerned about what kind of stuff the dogs may get into that could hurt or kill them.

'As is' generally refers to the condition as it appears (as is/as shown), not hidden/buried hazards deliberately placed. And there is no possible argument that the buried trash was an accident.

Speak with someone at the county level regarding the 'buried treasure' and your concerns re your well (if exists), and if necessary get an attorney and start action.

While I don't know that this stuff was "deliberately placed" in the truest sense, it was certainly left there and deliberately not collected again, which in my amateur (I took one 100 level law class in college) eyes at least constitutes negligence.

So far the most helpful reply. Thanks Dave.



I am probably going to call my wife's uncle about this one. He has done general contracting in the area for over 20 years now and is good friends with the area's biggest real estate lawyer, giving him a pretty good understanding of most of these laws. I also have a few contacts in the tri-county legal community that I plan to ask on this one. I just wanted to see if anyone here knew anything since it will be a few days before I can contact any of them.

 

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

While I don't know that this stuff was "deliberately placed" in the truest sense, it was certainly left there and deliberately not collected again, which in my amateur (I took one 100 level law class in college) eyes at least constitutes negligence.

So far the most helpful reply. Thanks Dave.

If it was left and buried, that satisfies the burden of proof. If nothing else it constitutes illegal dumping.

Quite welcome, ad.

 

[adsm08]

If it was left and buried, that satisfies the burden of proof. If nothing else it constitutes illegal dumping.

Quite welcome, ad.

It was certainly left. I'm not sure that it was intentionally buried however. My town is on the side of a hill at the foot of the Appalachian range. My house is on top of the hill, and my back yard (where all the garbage is) is on the back side of the hill. I believe it has become buried through natural processes, dirt moving downhill from rain and such.

Still means illegal dumping.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Now I know of a case recently where the owner of a local construction company was caught burying his garbage in the fields on his farm and was made to pay out to remove the garbage and recondition the ground.

Standard practice of demoing a home in the country here is to haul out a Cat, dig a big hole, push the house in it, burn it (optional), and fill the hole. And then they can farm over the top of it.

Happens to almost every homestead around here.

 

[Mark_88]

Could be the builders left you the stuff too...or it was a vacant lot and the neighbors found a new landfill site close enough to them...I still see new home sites with holes for dumping building materials into...but household garbage is another story...

Depending on where you're finding this stuff...they would have had to have an open pit for some time to accumulate any kind of mass of garbage...and unless they were the only ones on the street for a while...

Like some have said...talk to the local municipal level government first...and if you find anything toxic...call the health department...but car batteries get you about $10 at a recycler...if there's more than one of those around it might cover your costs for hauling other stuff...

How did you happen to find this, and how deep did you have to dig to discover it?

 

[adsm08]

Could be the builders left you the stuff too...or it was a vacant lot and the neighbors found a new landfill site close enough to them...I still see new home sites with holes for dumping building materials into...but household garbage is another story...

Depending on where you're finding this stuff...they would have had to have an open pit for some time to accumulate any kind of mass of garbage...and unless they were the only ones on the street for a while...

House was build in the mid 50s and renovated several times. By all accounts however the people in question had a habit of just throwing things everywhere and leaving them.

There is a pile of what I believe to be old furniture, a bed, mattress, and maybe a couch, just inside the wood line that we were told these people dumped there as well.