Discussionspublic

Construction Monitoring & PCAs

This is a public Forum  publicRSS

Topic

    hydraulic lift on property
    Topic posted Jun 4 by tpondNewbie
    213 Views, 3 Comments
    Title:
    hydraulic lift on property
    Content:

    I am buying a half acre parcel. The owner had an in-ground hydraulic auto lift installed on the property that he removed while I was in contract.  THis work was done without permits or inspections and I was never informed of the lift.  I happened to drive by and see the  the equipment being loaded onto a trailer with an excavator.  I later leanred trough a mutual aquaintence that the lift was aquired from a defunct auto repair shop, installed and used on the on the property to work on his many vehicles.  What environmental and legal issues might this present?

    Comments

    • posted Jun 5 by MattFoxElite Contributor

      Not enough information to draw any good conclusions. Hydraulic lifts aren't typically a huge problem, but they can definitely cause contamination if they've leaked.  I'd probably be more worried about other stuff.  Auto repair activity is frequently source of contamination and often a good indicator that the property may have been a gasoline station many years ago. Could easily be old underground gasoline tanks, waste oil tanks, hazardous waste dumped onto ground or into septic systems, etc, etc, etc.

      I'm guessing you didn't get a Phase 1 done.  Probably would be a good idea to get one if you don't want to be responsible for contamination caused by the previous owner.  You can probably get a Phase 1 done for somewhere around $1,800-$2,500, depending on timing, etc.  If you've already closed escrow and taken possession of the property, then you're options are much more limited and would probably need to start looking for a good lawyer.

      Looks like you're in SF Bay Area.  We have people in that area.  If you want to get a Phase 1, give me a call at 916.273.8525

      Matt Fox

      Reply to this Comment

      Attach File

    • posted Jun 7 by Mike MNewbie

      Good comments by Matt. Usually even if there is a release from hydraulic units, contamination is very localized. Just a matter of digging out a bit of extra soil, and not very expensive. Undocumented activities like lift removal can cause problems for future loans, due to the "unknown" factor. Some lenders have very low risk tolerance, even for minor issues.

      Like Matt says, the fact that there was a lift should be a flag that there could be other issues with this site.

      Reply to this Comment

      Attach File

    • posted Jun 10 by Brian OlinNewbie

      I agree with both Matt and Mike.  The fact that he did this secretly and tried to conceal it should also raise some red flags that there might be other issues.  I agree that a Phase I ESA is in order.  This is good practice for any commercial real estate parcel, and banks require a Phase I before financing any commercial property for just these reasons.

      http://sites.google.com/site/brianolinnc/ 

       

      Reply to this Comment

      Attach File