shared well

[cknmom]

When we bought our ranch, the lot nextdoor had already been bought but the new owner and old owner(which we bought our place from also) were in a dispute about the shred well. Long story short; new owner MUST go straight off our tank or go all the way around our property.

He is now trying to sell and is having problems. He was up here a couple weekends ago with his laser level checking things out and DH and him came up with a good plan of building a bridge over the our dry creek and running the pipe across there. His people(whomever they may be) wanted him to dig down 6' UNDER the creek! We have unbelievably rocky soil here. Whenever you go more than 2' deep, you come up with boulders!

He brought some paperwork for DH to look at and sign. Should we get a lawyer to look at these papers? This guy is nice but whines A LOT!

Monica

 

[cknmom]

New owners would be sharing our 10,000 gal tank and there would be a new pressure tank. Each of us would be 50% responsible for any costs. We each would be responsible for our own lines.

He wants to have a meter installed at the electric box for the pump. He says it is to make sure that if a new owner used more water than us we wouldn't have to pay as much electricty. DH is totally against that, the bill is less than $12.00 a month!! Big deal.

Monica

 

[chickbea]

Oooh. I can sympathize.

When we (naively) bought our first house, we were assured that the shared water system ran wonderfully, and that all ten houses on it contributed to the upkeep and maintenance. Well, we hadn't been there a month when the water disappeared for the first time (there were many more times to come), and no one was eager to pony up any money to repair it! Anyhoo, we limped along on that system until it finally went caput, and we had no water for 2 months! That's when we decided to dig a well and share it with our neighbor (the price to do it alone was $8,000 - eek!). We get along great with this neighbor, so we never made anything official with a lawyer. However, when our neighbor's dad visited, he insisted that we formalize the agreement, and we did go to a lawyer and had him write it up. Then I brought it to my town clerk, and she filed it with our land records.

As was explained to us by the lawyer, the benefit is when you sell the land. Having everything set in stone makes it more appealing to potential buyers who may be wary of such a system (like I sure will be next time I buy a house!). We do have everything in there to the last detail, including splitting electricity, but we didn't put in a separate meter, it just says something about "sharing the reasonable costs of electricity", or something like that. We figured ours to be only about $40 a year, so we don't even worry about it. It comes off of his meter, but the well is on our land.

I think the pipes have to be buried due to freezing - but maybe that isn't a problem in your area?

 

[cknmom]

Yes, it freezes here. we have had a few day/nights where with wind chill it is below zero. Both DH and current owner are contractors, so I am sure that they would have some kind of pipe insulation or something (I am not a contractor) to keep it from freezing.

We just thought that 6' UNDER a DRY creekbed was a little ridiculous. We do not want the natural beauty and flow(when it rains) of our creek. We have many animals that live it it also.

DH and I will be discussing this and reading paperwork tonight. Maybe his boss or the guy we bought from can steer us to a good ,inexpensive lawyer.Money is very tight as I STILL haven't found a job.

Thanks for your input. DH keeps saying that when we bought if we had had an extra(haha) $12,000 we would have bought full rights and wouldn't have to share. But when buying how many people have extra money???

Monica

 

[unionwirewoman]

Be VERY carefull about water rights . You should use a lawyer to insure your rights . If it is your well (not sure what a shred well is ) you should legally own the water rights if it is on your property . You can go to the county and have them look it up . If you have not signed off papers on water rights you could be in a potentially bad position . The person who owns the rights has control over your use of it . If they decide they don't want you on it...you're SOL . If you do own the rights , I would keep it that way . Tell the guy the new owners can share.....but you will keep the rights . This is in case you start to notice a drop in your water . You can then legally force the other property off your well to save your own . Sounds pretty crappy , but I'm a firm believer of taking care of yourself before others. Don't get me wrong.....I go out of my way to help others when I can , but when it comes to hurting your family or anothers , I choose mine . I strongly suggest getting a lawyer and looking into the ownership of the water rights .

 

[kstaven]

No doubts in my mind. Get a lawyer.

If something goes wrong with the system and your neighbor refuses to pay a portion then what? Best solution is to be proactive.

 

[chickbea]

It was a few years ago, and I can't remember the actual price of the lawyer, but I think it ran around $150.00, and that was for actually writing up the agreement. I would think that having a lawyer just read it over would cost less, but what do I know about such things...
Do you know anyone who is a real estate agent? They are usually quite knowledgeable about such things and may be able to steer you to a good lawyer at a reasonable price. They may also know more about if that pipe actually needs to be buried or not.

 

[cknmom]

My SIL is a realestate agent, but several people have gotten some bad advice from her, so we don't ask her anything anymore.

DH is going over to the guys house that owned both our properties this weekend to help him out with a situation. He has offered up his lawyer a few times, DH will talk to him about it this weekend.

I didn't want to say anything at first about the owner we share with but, when we bought our ranch,the original owner had been in a dispute with him for almost 2 yrs. That is why he didn't build. He wanted to go across our property from the well to his place. He owed $12,000 for his half of the well, he refused to pay because he couldn't get his way.

We had to sing a paper saying that he had to come off the tank, period.

The guy tried to get us to ignore the original owner. DH told him, you pay what you owe to him and we'll talk.

He is a nice guy but I hope he can sell soon, not that I am looking forward to nieghbors or sharing the well.

Thanks everyone for the advice and we will contact a lawyer!

Monica

 

[Crunchie]

Yes, contact a lawyer--your own lawyer, not this guy's personal attorney!

Good luck!