Knee-deep in a backyard flooding problem

BY ILYCE GLINK AND SAMUEL J. TAMKIN Tribune Media Services

Q: My husband and I purchased our first home about six years ago. A short time after we closed, we noticed that the backyard would always flood, no matter how little or how much rain fell. The flooding was never disclosed to us. It gets to the point where we have ducks swimming on standing water in our backyard, which is dangerous in itself.

A year or two after moving into the home, I found a letter from the city to the previous owners telling them that the city did not have the funds to correct the flooding problem. Obviously, the city and the owners both knew about the issue.

The city has told me to find my own engineer and the building department will work with him to correct the issue. But the city won’t commit to telling me who will be responsible for the repair costs. Any suggestions?

A: We know several people who have had a similar situation to yours. However, most of them did not wait six years before trying to solve their drainage problem in their backyard.

While most states have seller disclosure laws — and seller disclosure laws require homeowners to disclose to buyers any known defects they know about their home — the backyard flooding problem may not be covered by some or all of the seller disclosure laws.

If the backyard flooding is affecting the foundation of the property or other portion of the property, you may have a case that the seller should have disclosed that issue to you. And if

See MATTERS, page C44