My question involves real estate located in the State of: California
Hello,
We are first time home buyers. In 2011 we purchased a house on a private road with two neighbors behind us. There is a retaining wall on our property which was constructed in 1978 to "stabilize the road" (according to our buyer's contract.) No where does it state the retaining wall was constructed to help support the house.
The two neighbors behind us have an easement to use the road across our property to access their homes. We all share financial responsibility to maintain the road. These two neighbors are the only ones that use the portion of the road supported by the retaining wall.
One neighbor runs a construction company out of his home and for the last year has been doing extensive renovations to his house. Six days a week, there can be anywhere from one to four large trucks driving on the small road. We are not sure if this is legal as at the entrance to the private road there is a wooden signs stating "No Trucks, No Turning" and an metal traffic sign saying "No Trucks Over 5 Tons". As it is a private road, we are not sure who put the metal sign. The metal sign can be purchased online.
When we purchased the house, the seller indicated the retaining wall was "starting to lean." This is a large wall, possibly 15'-20' high and 30' long made of steel and wood. Since we've bought the house, the wall has started to fail at a rapid rate and the adjoining road has also sunk and buckled.
We are not sure which has affected which since just in early 2016 we discovered the drain built to handle the natural water run-off from our uphill neighbor (not one of the two sharing the road.) The drain was also undisclosed and unknown to us until we wondered if all the run-off could be contributing to the rapid road buckle. We started to dig around and found the drain buried two feet under mud and rock. As a result, for four years our neighbor's run-off which is piped into our yard in a big black tube, had been absorbed into the ground directly across from the buckled road.
It's a nightmare and we would like to get it fixed sooner than later.
Here are our questions:
1. On our buyer's contract is states that we alone are financially responsible for maintaining the retaining wall. It seems inequitable for one owner to carry the burden of financially responsibility when it was constructed to stabilize the road to give the neighbors access to their houses. What seems more equitable is for the expense to be shared. Is there any chance of legally changing the financial responsibility from one owner to a shared responsibility?
2. Who determines and how is it decided who will pay for retaining wall repairs? Is it possible to have an engineer come an inspect the road to see if the four years of water run-off has affected the road and contributed to the rapid wall failure and have the community share the cost?
3. Or does the original own bare any responsibility for not disclosing the drain and that road and house are built on fill?
Thank you very much in advance for your time, consideration and help.
Hello,
We are first time home buyers. In 2011 we purchased a house on a private road with two neighbors behind us. There is a retaining wall on our property which was constructed in 1978 to "stabilize the road" (according to our buyer's contract.) No where does it state the retaining wall was constructed to help support the house.
The two neighbors behind us have an easement to use the road across our property to access their homes. We all share financial responsibility to maintain the road. These two neighbors are the only ones that use the portion of the road supported by the retaining wall.
One neighbor runs a construction company out of his home and for the last year has been doing extensive renovations to his house. Six days a week, there can be anywhere from one to four large trucks driving on the small road. We are not sure if this is legal as at the entrance to the private road there is a wooden signs stating "No Trucks, No Turning" and an metal traffic sign saying "No Trucks Over 5 Tons". As it is a private road, we are not sure who put the metal sign. The metal sign can be purchased online.
When we purchased the house, the seller indicated the retaining wall was "starting to lean." This is a large wall, possibly 15'-20' high and 30' long made of steel and wood. Since we've bought the house, the wall has started to fail at a rapid rate and the adjoining road has also sunk and buckled.
We are not sure which has affected which since just in early 2016 we discovered the drain built to handle the natural water run-off from our uphill neighbor (not one of the two sharing the road.) The drain was also undisclosed and unknown to us until we wondered if all the run-off could be contributing to the rapid road buckle. We started to dig around and found the drain buried two feet under mud and rock. As a result, for four years our neighbor's run-off which is piped into our yard in a big black tube, had been absorbed into the ground directly across from the buckled road.
It's a nightmare and we would like to get it fixed sooner than later.
Here are our questions:
1. On our buyer's contract is states that we alone are financially responsible for maintaining the retaining wall. It seems inequitable for one owner to carry the burden of financially responsibility when it was constructed to stabilize the road to give the neighbors access to their houses. What seems more equitable is for the expense to be shared. Is there any chance of legally changing the financial responsibility from one owner to a shared responsibility?
2. Who determines and how is it decided who will pay for retaining wall repairs? Is it possible to have an engineer come an inspect the road to see if the four years of water run-off has affected the road and contributed to the rapid wall failure and have the community share the cost?
3. Or does the original own bare any responsibility for not disclosing the drain and that road and house are built on fill?
Thank you very much in advance for your time, consideration and help.
Fences and Walls: Retaining Wall and Buckled Road Nightmare
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