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Sewer Lateral compliance after home sale

more.fafa
9 years ago

I sold my home in Oakland, CA and escrow closed in August 2014. At the time of selling it, we provided the escrow and the buyers copies of our signed permits from the City of Oakland showing that our final plumbing was inpected and approved on January 4, 2012. We thought this was enough evidence to exempt us from getting the EBMUD Sewer Lateral Certificate and our sewer lateral would be Earlier this month, the buyers' agent contacted our realtor about the certificate for the sewer lateral. According to the email, the buyer had a sewer back-up, and hired a plumber to fix the problem. Their agent claims that through camera images, they saw that the sewer pipes were ceramic , and were never replaced.

The buyers are now asking us to provide them with the sewer lateral compliance certificate. We do not have this because, as I mentioned above, we thought that the city inspection and approval of the final plumbing of the house was sufficient. They did not ask us for the compliance certificate before close of escrow, and now that escrow has been closed for over 4 months, I am unsure if it is still our responsibility.

Please advise me on the best approach on this matter. I've read this following post and it does not answer my question.
http://www.trulia.com/voices/Home_Selling/Do_I_need_to_get_my_sewer_inspected_when_selling_m-493093

Thank you so much for your advice!

Comments (11)

  • C Marlin
    9 years ago

    Did you ask your agent about this?

  • rrah
    9 years ago

    CA laws are very different than the laws in other states. Even cities within CA vary greatly from all I've read here and other places. Your best bet is to contact an attorney familiar with Oakland, CA codes and laws.

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    9 years ago

    more.fafa:

    Laws and lawyers, meh. What these situations come down to is power. They are going to be asking their attorney how much effort it will be to sue you to get relief. They have to weigh if that's cost effective as compared to just fixing this themselves and moving on.

    How lucky do you feel? You might consider an informal offer. If I were looking at a 10K fix and could get 2 of that from you without a fight, I'd jump on it.

  • duvetcover
    9 years ago

    It sounds like you were represented by a realtor and the buyer was represented by a realtor. You need to talk to your realtor. This should be something both realtors should have been aware of and dealt with - the buyer may be receiving incorrect information from his plumber re what your
    reponsibility was or neither realtor did their job properly in re to this issue.
    You don't even know at this point whether you're really in the wrong.
    Start with the realtor; if that doesn't resolve the issue consider getting a legal opinion. You paid good money as a commission to be well represented. If the realtor made a mistake he- she should be covered by an errors and omissions policy.

  • more.fafa
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all of your advice, I really appreciate your help. I did speak with the escrow officer and my agent about this, and both want us to set-up an appointment to get the sewer lateral compliance certificate, ASAP.

    I get a feeling that this problem occurred because the escrow officer did not inspect the documents properly and closed the escrow prematurely. They did not make us aware that this certificate was missing before escrow closed and they want us to fix their problem 4 months later.

    I wonder if it is necessary to hire a real estate lawyer for advice or should we just go ahead to make an appointment with a plumber and the city water/sewer company to get the certificate.

  • weedyacres
    9 years ago

    What is involved in getting the certificate? Is it just scheduling an inspection and doing some paperwork?

  • more.fafa
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    http://www.eastbaypsl.com/eastbaypsl/selling.html

    According to the website above, we need to hire a license plumber and schedule an appointment with an EBMUD inspector. The plumber will 'test' the sewer lateral and if it passes, the EBMUD will issue a certificate. This estimate to cost ~ $300-400.

    If the sewer lateral is non-compliant, i.e. it leaks, then it will need to be fixed. We will need to get city permits and replace the whole sewer lateral. In this case the cost can amount to $3K or more.

    The issue is that the buyer has been living on the property for more than 4 months and had a sewer blockage recently. I don't know what they are doing on the property, and I am unwilling to pay to fix for their sewer issues.

  • weedyacres
    9 years ago

    I would say that if there's a law that you have to supply a lateral compliance certificate upon the sale of your home, then the inspection is on your dime. If there's no law, but it's typically done in your area, and someone missed it, it's on the buyer's dime. It would be no different IMO than an inspector missing something or the title company screwing up. The buyer and/or his representative(s) screwed up in not getting it. Their problem, not yours. As long as you didn't hide anything or lie about anything, it's on them to do their due diligence and paperwork.

  • tlbean2004
    9 years ago

    I thin the fact that the inspection said that the plumbing was approved and then they had a back up problem they are feeling misled.
    Just because they have lived there for 4 months doesnt really matter.
    In home selling instances, i think the buyer has up to 2 years to sue.
    Not saying that the problem is your fault or that they will win.

    Are you gonna pay the 3-400 dollars?

  • duvetcover
    9 years ago

    I would suggest that you consult with a local real estate attorney re exactly what you are responsible for. I would not agree to do anything at this point without knowing where you stand. It seems to me that the realtor(s) and escrow company failed to do their job and are now looking to you to make it right. This might be just a minor issue that can be easily resolved or it could become complex and expensive. No- one seems to be looking out for your interests. At least get a legal opinion. I don't understand why the buyers realtor, your realtor and the escrow comoany don't have some responsibility here. That's something you would want to talk to your attorney about.

  • marie_ndcal
    9 years ago

    Did you check with your local building department to see what codes and permits are involved? You might need a permit to fix anything like they want--again go to your agent and did you/or buyer get a Title Insurance paper thru Escrow? The Title insurance may pay for it, especially if the escrow company misses something.