TL;DR: Septic permit drawing from County Health Department was incorrect and now we need to remove and rebuild a 75ft section of fence ($$$).
We recently purchased our home in North Carolina less than a month ago. The house was listed as a three bedroom three bath home when our offer was accepted and we went under contract. We received a copy of the sellers disclosures and everything looked fine and supported the fact that it was a three bedroom three bath house.
While under contract, the seller decides to disclose the fact that the septic system was actually only rated for two bedrooms two baths. Their real estate agent then updated the MLS listing from a three bedroom to a two bedroom.
During our due diligence period, we had the septic system inspected and the result was that the entire system needed to be replaced as the tank was cracked and not functioning as it should (originally built in the 70’s). Also during the septic inspection, the county health department was on-site to verify whether or not we would be able to upgrade the system to a three bedroom three bath with the available space and layout of the property lines.
The inspector from the health department determined that yes, it was possible and then proceeded to issue the permit along with a drawing of how it would be laid out (link to redacted permit + drawing).
After some negotiations with the seller, they agreed to pay for the full cost of the new three bedroom septic system with the funds to be held in escrow, and us agreeing to have the work done once we had possession of the house.
Fast forward to yesterday, a day before the new septic system was scheduled to be installed. The septic company comes out to lay some flags and ensure the site was ready for the new tank. Unfortunately they couldn’t get the drawing and instructions from the health department to work, so they call the health department and a new county health inspector comes out.
The new inspector from the health department says the only way they can get this plan to work involves removing around 75ft of fencing along one of our property lines (I outlined the section in the drawing) in order to meet the required length of a three bedroom drain-field.
Obviously this is unexpected (never mentioned during original inspection and permit issuing) and likely to cost us a decent chunk of money to have the fence removed and then (hopefully) rebuilt around the new drain-field lines without damaging anything.
We feel as though we’ve been misled. The original permit drawing from the health department clearly shows the drain lines away from the fence line and no-one (health department or septic company) ever mentioned anything about having to remove any of it.
Do we have any legal course of action with any of the involved parties (seller, septic company, or health department)? Or are we just SOL and better off eating the cost of removing and rebuilding the 75ft section of fence?
It doesn’t seem right or fair, but I know that’s irrelevant. Just looking for any advice on how to best handle this ? situation. Thanks!