I may lose my house

[cmccuist]

My wife and I bought our dream home here in south Texas about two years ago and now the county told us we have ten days to vacate the premises. The septic system failed and they told us we needed to upgrade to the latest state regulations.

I told them no problem. So I got a sanitation engineer out here to look at my land. Due to my location on the San Bernard River, the position of my well and the small size of my lot, he told me that even with every variance he could think of, I still don't have enough land to install a system.

Now, the place is unlivable, and if I just give it back to the lender, he wont be able to sell it and I'll still be on the hook for the loan amount.

I've talked with an attorney about going after the realtor. He says I have a good case, but it will cost 10-15K and take a year or two to settle. I talked with a bankruptcy attorney. He said I make too much for a chapter 7. He says maybe a chapter 13 would help some.

My only other options are to do what's known as "pump and haul" which means put in a big tank and cart off the sewage ($150/500 gal). Or the other option is to buy some land from my neighbor and put a system there. But he tried to sell me some land and ran into more laws and regulations about sub-dividing acreage and got frustrated and quit trying.

I'm pretty much screwed right about now. I can't live in my home and can't afford to keep dumping $2000/mo into a rat hole.

Any suggestions out there?

[Rot 911]

First talk to another attorney that is familiar with environmental regulations and your county's health and zoning codes. At least you will know better if there are any other ways around the code or if you can ask for a special variance or even if you are grandfathered in. I would be greatly surprised if the county can actually make you move in 10 days without a court order.

[Superman]

Sounds like you are considering the options you are aware of so far, and on the lookout for more options. You'll be fine. I get somewhat amused at county officials that pretend as though they can control your situation. Fact is, you still live there as long as you haven't left yet. I'd think of the septic/well situation as the "real" reason I might consider leaving, for reasons of my family's health in case bacteria gets into the well. It's your decision. What are they going to do? Come and arrest you, then place a masonry wall around the property with barbed wire at the top?

Pumping and hauling sounds like a potentially viable option. Involving the realtor in this might be fair. Even regardless of the solution you choose, the value of the property was overestimated because of (presumably) information withheld.

So, I'd say just keep looking at options. Drink bottled water. Heck, have a 'sani-can' placed on the property, so you can pretend the failed septic system is not being used. I wonder how the county knows the septic has failed, and when they learned this. Again, county folks sometimes sound like they have some influence on you regarding building permits for improvements, yadda yadda. In reality, you live there and there's nothing they can do about that. At least, nothing that's very easy.

[1973911s]

Don't buy the land from your neighbor, just get a variance and easement from him to put the tank on part of his land.

Michael

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by 1973911s
Don't buy the land from your neighbor, just get a variance from him to put the tank on part of his land.
Michael

Yep, if he's a good guy he'll grant you an easment. Done deal.


Edit: I'm guessing I must be oversimplifying this, as it would probably been your 2-3 move.

[billwagnon]

wouldn't it be cheaper to haul water in, so you don't need the well? there are places within 40 minutes of St. Louis that get their water by truck

[cmccuist]

What happens is the district attorney gets involved and they start fining you $400/day if you don't fix your problem. I put in low flush toilets and low flow shower heads and we're watching the water usage. Problem is, once your system fails, you have to be actively trying to get the situation up to code. I can't do that with the land that I have and the pump and haul would be around $600/month.

I am to the point where I don't even want to live here anymore. If the bank comes and takes the place and then they can't sell it, then what happens?

[djmcmath]

I don't have any ideas better than the easement, but I can offer my sympathy.

[TerryBPP]

Originally posted by 1973911s
Don't buy the land from your neighbor, just get a variance and easement from him to put the tank on part of his land.

Michael

Bingo. Im a civil engineer and that is exactly what I would do. If your lucky you could get an easement from adjacent county land if necessary. My advice is to get another engineer. Some of us are dumbasses.

[cmccuist]

Originally posted by djmcmath
I don't have any ideas better than the easement, but I can offer my sympathy.

Dan, I appreciate that. I like the way that this board will put aside political differences and offer words or encouragement or advice even after sometimes bitter disagreements on other issues.

I'm going to keep working the phones. There are people in Surfside and Galveston TX who have/had homes on the beach. The beach has eroded and the vegatation between them and the Gulf which used to mark the boundary between public and private land is now gone. These people also lost their homes. Wonder what they're doing about the mortgage?

[bryanthompson]

We have this issue come up all the time at the lake where I currently live. All of the homes use septic tanks, and as they age and need replacing, the quality of them increases and whatnot. So, what you have is a bunch of old, rusty, crappy septic tanks being replaced with new, clean, better tanks. The problem is that the EPA has already said that no new tanks can be installed within, say, 1500 feet of a water well. To get around the problem, one of my neighbors installed his septic tank 1000 feet away from the well, putting it just out of range. Other people just put it in and either hope not to get caught or pay the fine.

[stomachmonkey]

Can you install your own treatment facility?

http://www.septicsolutions.net/index.htm

Good luck.

[krichard]

I see your from LJ. I grew up there!!! I don't get down there to often but when I lived there I always wanted to get a place on the San Bernard. I can't belive the crap your going through with this. Is Stanley still the county comissioner? I am really good freinds with his son and he could probably pull some strings. I know he lives on the San Bernard as well.

[Jims5543]

I have to deal with the local Health Dept. and their septic permitting process here in Florida.

I have seen people install systems in environmentally sensitive area. There is a self contained system that processes the waste and emits Grey water similar to what you would use for irrigation.

It has to be maintained more than a regular septic system but if you are choosing between loosing you're house and staying this is a viable option.

This sort of system was being approved for use in the Florida Keys because it was so clean.

If I can find any further info for you I will.

[RickM]

I think I read this thread thouroughly....

Wouldn't be easier to move the well. Perhaps affording you more room on your property for a modern septic system. I'd think your neighbor or the county would be more receptive to accepting an easement for a well.

[Superman]

Originally posted by cmccuist
Dan, I appreciate that. I like the way that this board will put aside political differences and offer words or encouragement or advice even after sometimes bitter disagreements on other issues.

Well, I wouldn't have posted if I knew that rascal Bryan was going to show up.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Would you neighbor give you a 100 year renewable lease on enough property to allow you to place your septic in the area?

[dmcummins]

I though their was a system out that used some kind of aerator that didn't require the field lines? I looked at a house that I was considering for a rental and it had a similar problem. Not enough land for the field lines. The county inspector I talked to said I could get away with one of the newer systems but it would cost around 10K more to install.

If it were just me I would also look into composting toliets at least for a temp fix.

[cmccuist]

Originally posted by RickM
I think I read this thread thouroughly....

Wouldn't be easier to move the well. Perhaps affording you more room on your property for a modern septic system. I'd think your neighbor or the county would be more receptive to accepting an easement for a well.

Moving the well might work, but I would need to drill the new well on somebody else's land. Also, my neighbor's well is 25' from my property line. His septic system is parrallel to mine, so we are both in trouble, but his hasn't failed yet. He has since moved and only uses his place on the weekend, so it's unlikely that his system will fail. Therefore there is not a huge incentive for him to move his well ($7-10).

[RickM]

Originally posted by cmccuist
Moving the well might work, but I would need to drill the new well on somebody else's land. Also, my neighbor's well is 25' from my property line. His septic system is parrallel to mine, so we are both in trouble, but his hasn't failed yet. He has since moved and only uses his place on the weekend, so it's unlikely that his system will fail. Therefore there is not a huge incentive for him to move his well ($7-10).

Hmmm, is there a more remote area on your property you could utilize? Front yard, side yardn under driveway with access point etc...