Oil tank risk on Sheriff's sale property

[Ryan W.]

I am considering a bid on a sheriff's sale property.  I have determined my max bid, but have reservations because of the unknown oil tank risk. I have gone to the town building department to see if there is any record of a tank installation, removal or decommission (none), and have reviewed NJDEP data to see if there has been prior remediation on the property (none).  There are NJDEP records of nearby (same block) properties that had leaking tanks.

The MLS listing for the prior sale of this property in 1996 says the house has natural gas, baseboard hot water heat and central air, which is consistent with the information I was able to get from the town. But none of this confirms the lack of an in-ground tank.

I am not sure what else I can do to evaluate oil tank risk.  I cannot access the property for a sweep.

I know that my entire investment thesis goes out the window and that this could become a liability if there is a leaking tank.  Any thoughts?  Investors take this risk every week when they buy NJ auction properties, right?  Is there any further investigation I can do on whether there is a tank short of getting access to the property.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

[Kelly Arthur]

Hey there @Ryan W. I'm in the middle of closing on a multi-family in West Orange that ended up having a tank. I was able to do a tank sweep and filed an OPRA with West Orange to see if there were any permits taken out to do any work on the tank (removal,fill, etc.).  Once I got the report back, it confirmed that the tank was filled with sand in 2002. Was  the town able to tell you anything without filing an OPRA to get permit records? 

My concern was that I wanted the tank to be dealt with completely by the seller prior to close. I did not want to take on the risk of dealing with a leaking tank because the cost could be significant.  I'm sure investors take risks every day but are you prepared to take on the liability if there turns out to be a leak???

Just something to think about. I wish you lots of luck.