All Forum Posts by: Todd Nadeau

 I truly hope that you guys are right and the neighbor is wrong, but she seemed very adamant about it.  She seemed the type of person that knows everything that i going on in the neighborhood.  I find one at every foreclosure I buy, they are the first ones to visit to find out what my plans are for the property.

As for the quantity of dirt, there is plenty of low areas on the lot for a lot more.  The dump site is level and not a hill as one would expect.

 I really don't doubt the neighbor at all. The house was an original farmhouse with acreage that sold off the surrounding land for development.  It is literally surrounded by homes on all sides, with this house in the center.  There is a long panhandle driveway.  The lot is one acre in size and was completely surrounded by trees and bushes, so it was rather secluded.  As for dumping the dirt, there is plenty of low lying areas to dump dirt.  In fact I am going to have to buy fill dirt in order to fill in some of these areas.  

According to the neighbor, the dump site the neighbor pointed out was only 50-60 feet away from her house.  The fence on that part of the property is chain-link, so she would have a front-row seat, and was very upset about it. 

I really don't want to know anything more from the neighbor at this point until I've processed everything, and have a plan.  This has been very stressful, and we really stretched financially to buy this.  Now, I have to add attorney and inspection fees to it.

Thanks to everyone for the input!  

I am searching for an attorney that covers that area of expertise, and not going to touch it until I get clarification.  As Matthew Paul said that it is just hearsay until it is dug up, although after the neighbor pointed it out, that area of the lot does look to strongly support her comment.  I'll also check into doing a phase one.

I think it is a dirty trick for the VA to do, and then use a loophole in the foreclosure exemption from normal seller's disclosure.

Thanks again.

Thanks for the input.  I wouldn't have guessed that it would be legal anywhere in the US, but that is why I asked the question.  I was thinking of asking the city, but was afraid they may start to ask questions.

Also, the property is about 1,000 feet from a river that flows over 100 miles to Portland, where they are ultra concerned about water quality.

I personally think banks (and the Federal Govt) should be required to disclose any activity they perform of this type whether legal or not, and not be able to hide behind the foreclosure exemption on disclosures and "as is" labeling.

Now to find a lawyer that would know such things...

If it's legal, perhaps I can start my own landfill business to compete with the high costs the county charges.  As they say "When life gives you lemons..."

There were no usual sales disclosure form as they were "exempt".  This seems typical for all the foreclosures I've bought (this is my sixth).  They did have their own disclosure forms that disclosed that the property may have lead-based paint, asbestos, radon, etc.  They also disclosed that it was in a 500 year floodplain, and that is was sold with no trash-out (house and garage were still filled with garbage).  No disclosure about the landfill they created.

No it wasn't HUD, so no Property Condition Report. Even if there was, they could have done the PCR before turning around and burying it.

I didn't know if anyone had run across this issue before, or if it is even illegal.

I guess the moral of the story is for people to include core samples in their property inspections.

Thanks for the welcome.

I do my own property inspections, and I was focused on the house condition (there was a lot to focus on there).  It was obvious that excavation work was done to clean up the property and remove blackberry bushes, etc. so I didn't think twice about that.  

I assumed the seller disposed of the garbage appropriately.  I obviously assumed wrong.

I recently bought a [Federal Agency] foreclosed property. The property is on a huge city lot (small acreage) and was a "hoarder" house, and according to the agent, the bid for the external cleanup was substantial, but was "completed". I talked to the city police who frequented the property and they said that the piles of garbage were as high as the eves of the roof. This garbage appeared gone when it was listed in the MLS.

The next day after closing, a neighbor came by pleased that someone was finally going to fix up the house.  She informed me that the seller got rid of the garbage by excavating a large, deep hole on the property about 30' from our irrigation well and burying it.  The area that appears recently excavated is very large (size of a house).

Now, I will have to excavate and perform environmental clean-up, testing etc., and also disclose it when I sell.

I would think that this is illegal.  Am I wrong?  The Seller was a Federal Agency, and the Asset Manager is a large national one, so one would think they wouldn't do it if it wasn't legal.  I am also being intentionally vague as I don't know the implications yet.

Not knowing what was buried has me worried that I unwittingly just made a purchase that can topple everything I've worked for.

- Do I have any options at this point to get the Seller or Asset Manager to do the cleanup?  

- Should I immediately put this into an LLC, not knowing what costs could be lurking there that could send me into bankruptcy? I have a $1 million umbrella, should I increase it? Could I even be protected at this point?

I sort of wish the neighbor never told me.