Expert: Dottie Worthington - 1/28/2011

Question
We recently bought a home in the Houston area and with in 2 months we noticed one of our septic tanks over flowed in to our back yard. We called a company to come out to pump it was told by this company that they had been out prior to us moving in they told the previous owners that the septic system needed to be replaced. We found a pump in the one tank and a water hose and we assumed along with the company that the previous owners were pumping the sewage into the yard. we contacted our home warranty company about it and they informed us that the previous owners had filed a claim with them to have it "fixed." None of this was disclosed to us when we purchased the home. We have contacted the previous owners about this and politely asked them to pay the cost of a new system. They are denying any knowledge of knowing the septic system was in need of repair. According to the company that pumped the tank and the home warranty company this is false. I was wondering what advice you can give us and if we can take legal action against the previous owners.

Answer
First thing is contact your Realtor. Who represented you? Who represented the seller? What does your sellers disclosure say? They are required to provide one. If the seller's disclosure says it worked fine, and you found all this out, they are liable.  Contact an attorney.