ROUGH start. Sewer line repair plus forced added second water line for duplex?

Question

My husband and I just bought a duplex in Ohio. Both sides already had tenants.

A few days after closing, the duplex started having major sewer issues. Sewage and drain guys needing to come out to the property multiple times in multiple days. To make a long story short, it needed 2 new main sewer lines which cost well over $10k. While the new lines were being inspected, the city stated that the duplex only had 1 water line/meter coming in (which we knew about and pay the bill for) and that the property must have 2, so they were going to look into contacting us about having to add an additional water line to have both units be separate. I don't see any reason for this and have never heard of this.

Is this how it goes sometimes? I feel like we are getting screwed left and right here, and that nothing is going right. Do all duplexes need all utilities separate? Is this just a particularly nit-picky city trying to get extra money?

Steve K. · Answer

You would have easily seen that the sewer line was in need of replacement if you had scoped it during inspection. It also would have been obvious that there was only one water line/ meter for 2 units by simply counting the number of water meters. A lot of jurisdictions are requiring separate water taps for each unit in duplexes now, so this is also something you should have looked into. It can be up to $100k to add a new water tap in some jurisdictions around here, and often is at least $40k, so it’s definitely something I recommend buyers look into before purchasing. No offense but it doesn’t seem like anyone screwed you here, but rather that you failed to do proper due diligence. These are things that buyers normally check during their due diligence and inspection time period, prior to closing, and then negotiate price accordingly. Expensive lessons learned.

Caleb Brown · Answer

Sewer was something you should have scoped when buying. You always check that because you have no other way of knowing it. What is the property zoned as? Is it a converted single family or did they make it a duplex illegally? As Greg said it's up to the city and what laws are there.

Sam McCormack · Answer

I have had buyers this happens to as well, it is a pain. I always recommend sewer scope. A very small price to pay the assurance or funds to your closing costs to repair the line or whatever you need. Knowing Ohio, that does not sound right that you need to have separate water meters. Some areas even require owners to pay for water/sewer even if on the lease it is tenants responsibility. If I am wrong, someone educate me and source it please. But no that doesn't sound right. I'm curious to know how that plays out

Greg Scott · Answer

City building people have their own agenda.  I give it a 50/50 chance you don't need to do that.

Ask them to cite the code that requires each side of the duplex have water / sewer then look up that code.  If that were the law, they should have been built that way originally.  See if you might be grandfathered.   If need be, check with a local attorney that specializes in building issues.

Lauren Adair · Answer

Thanks for your reply everyone. I've bought 5 houses in my lifetime from 4 different agents and no one has ever suggested scoping out a sewer line. I honestly didn't even know that was a thing that people did during the inspection period. I know now!

I also didn't know that I needed to check out codes of an already in place duplex. I've never heard of both sides needing their own main water line. I now know that as well.

Thanks for keeping me humble and realizing that these were my errors of being negligent and uneducated (despite constantly listening to podcasts daily during any free time).

Scott Mac · Answer

Before buying many people have a check done of the sewer lines, with a contractor using a sewer scope.

They do this hoping to avoid the problem that you're experiencing right now.

If you buy another property, you could look one up on the Internet or maybe ask your Realtor for a recommendation.

Good Luck!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny6rUGioqEo

Kerlous Tadres · Answer

In Ohio, most older duplexes were built with shared utilities, and separate water meters are not typically required unless you’re doing major renovations or trying to reclassify the property. Some cities, though, have started enforcing stricter codes when any significant work is done, which might be what’s happening here. It’s worth asking the city to show you the exact ordinance that requires two meters. Sometimes, they "recommend" things that aren’t actually mandatory. Many landlords in similar situations keep the single meter and bill tenants back instead.

Steve K. · Answer

If the sewer lines were an issue prior to the sale and the seller didn’t disclose, and you have hard evidence that this was an ongoing issue, and that the seller knew about it and didn’t disclose, you may be able to pursue that further… it might be worth talking to an attorney… but again if you had an inspection clause and chose not to scope the sewer line, then that would reflect negatively on you because you would have had the opportunity to uncover these issues yourself then, and didn’t. Depends on the disclosure laws there and whether it is a “caveat emptor” state or not. I believe Ohio is caveat emptor in which case the seller does not have to disclose a defect that can be uncovered during inspection. It can be hard to win a failure to disclose case in a caveat emptor state unless you can prove fraud on behalf of the seller basically, that they covered it up preventing you from finding it during inspection. Always better to avoid these situations by performing adequate due diligence, which now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Good luck, I hope the property still works out for you in the long run!

ROUGH start. Sewer line repair plus forced added second water line for duplex?

Most Popular Reply