I recently bought a house with a septic tank. I had a home inspection done but not a septic tank inspection (I've never owned a house with a septic tank before). Shortly after I moved in I noticed a spot in the yard that stayed wet. Which gradually got worse, and smelled. Come to find out I have to have a new drain field installed.

After talking to a neighbor who used to cut the grass for the previous owner I found out that it had been like that for a "years" and that the previous owner knew about it. He checked no problem on the disclosure for the septic system. He even admitted to me on the phone that he knew about it but didn't think it was a big deal. He also had the tank pumped before closing. Now I know why. What do you guys think?

Thanks guys for all your help.

This is the first this post has been visible to me.

It might not have been important to him. Or he might have been having the tank pumped regularly because he thought it worked that way.

At least you can have the field replaced. Here, if your septic system goes bad, you are required to hook onto a sewer, even if it means thousands of dollars to extend a line to your area.

I dont know the laws where you live, but in MI. if the seller fails to disclose "known" problems with anything on the sellers discloser sheet then you have a case. Im not saying its a strong one, but you do have some ground to stand on. Where you went wrong is, trusting the sellers word. If the property has a septic tank that should have been one of the first things you got inspected. In the future, talk to the neighbors before you buy the house. As you later found out, you can get some good info from the neighbors. I would start out with talking to your local "Legal Aid" office and see what advice they can give you.