THE WHOLE FRONT YARD IS GONE, Mechanic's Lien or Attorney

[Lisa Miller]

THE WHOLE FRONT YARD IS GONE, Mechanic's Lien or Attorney?

I bought a house in 92 (Lot A), short platted the property built a duplex (Lot B) and sold Lot C. Flipped and sold the house in 94, with conditions per the county plat, that the home must be hooked up to sewer before sold again, or if any part of the system failed. One leg of the homes drain field crossed over onto lot B so a temporary easement 10'x20' was drawn into the plat. Everything was stated on the title of all three lots.

Twenty years later, Lot A has finally hung a sign to sell the house, a corner lot with sewer in both streets. The smaller street off the front yard, just got a fresh new layer of pavement mandating a five year moratorium restricting cutting into the new asphalt. Leaving the busy road as the only choice for sewer hookup at a cost of $30,000.

The owner of Lot A hires a drain field designer for certification, per his Realtor, and learns that his current system has failed. He tells the designer he has an easement. $12,000. later his new drain field design, approved by the county laid on my land. 60 x 65, Five trenches, two tanks and all the piping that goes with is open and exposed waiting for final approval. When I received a call...

THE WHOLE FRONT YARD IS GONE, IT'S GONE, OMG, the whole thing is GONE! What? I was just there yesterday how could it be gone.... I drove over to see the destruction and it was absolutely gone! I hung a note on the bulldozer demanding keys to my new machine as it was trespassing! I dug all night in file cabinets for paperwork dated back to 1992 and found all the proof... Title report of the original sale; 'MUST hook up to sewer upon sale or failure', 'Temporary easement, MUST hookup to sewer upon sale or failure'. I found stacks of paperwork demanding the hookup no matter the cost. And also realize the system is 15' over an designated road way (30' wide with 12' paved mandated by the plat). The system is a foot from the pavement. Wrong land, wrong system, encroaching and if the old system failed, am I contaminated!

Long story short; The work was stopped, one tank crushed and they hooked up to sewer. Leaving me with five open trenches, piping and one more tank I want pulled out. Needless to say I also want the piping and chambers pulled out, then the yard restored to grass. The lowest bid so far is $10,600. ($2,600 to pull the tank). Not including contamination, I just thought of that today.

My old neighbor said, "YOUR YARD ISN'T WORTH $2,000 TO ME, but I would be happy to give you that when the house sells".

$2K is an insult as it was apparently worth $12k a few days ago! Now his house has an accepted offer with closing in a few days.... There has been no work done. I need to get a lien on his home before closing, in other words, ASAP! Mechanics liens are for work done or planned to be done and not paid. Not for work not even contracted yet, let alone not paid. And I would be contracting it as the neighbor won't and I don't want him on my land. Am I to file a lien on his land for damage and work on my land... when I'm an owner, not a contractor?

Mechanics lien doesn't feel like the correct route. Small claims court (district court) takes several weeks and is limited to $6k. Superior court takes even longer and is expensive via filing fees, serving, Attorney, etc. I need to stake my claim immediately, before they close a $160K cash deal in a couple days without me. I plan to call all the escrow offices until I find who is closing and let them know there is a 10k+ issue and hope they will postpone until they can get it all sorted out and by then I should have something filed.

Please, Please, Please.... any advice here would be greatly appreciated... Is there an 'I GOT SCREWED, EMERGENCY LIEN' ?

[Account Closed]

Don't do anything until you speak an RE attorney. Don't call around to escrow companies and don't file anything on your own. The last thing you need is a counter suit from the owner. This is not a DIY situation in order to stop the sale. The owner will owe you even if the sale of the property closes. It's plain old property damage and a whole host of other valid civil complaints. IMO the "damages" add up to more than what you need to fix the yard, so you'll likely be able to settle. Your attorney will file a lis pendens asap and that should get the seller to wake up to the seriousness and the cost.