Re: Re: Re: Re: Real Estate Gurus need help fast You may want to go back to your Title Company. Taxing authorities (which is what a sewer district basically is) do not (I think cannot) file liens, etc. for 5 years (at least in my state, I think this is nationwide). So, when a title company does a search to make sure a property is unencumbered, they do not just check public records for liens, etc. due diligence also dictates that they check with taxing authorities (because if you have a debt with them that is less than 5 years old, it will not show up on any public records). Personally, I would not approach the title company with the attitude of "hey, you screwed up" but rather look at them as a resource. The first thing that they are going to do is put their legal minds on this to figure out why they aren't responsible. You may benefit from this because it may end up that they tell you that you are not responsible either. They may have actually checked with the sewer authority and been told that the property was free and clear. If you're lucky, the title company's legal department will help you out with some free legal advice (which is why I might first approach them in a friendly manner). I probably wouldn't share with them that you've gone back and forth with the sewer district -- let them investigate fresh. Good luck.
I found some caselaw on the subject. http://www.mrsc.org/mc/courts/appellate/028wnapp/028wnapp0176.htm As far as I can tell, they cannot bill to the PROPERTY, only to the USER, and the caselaw seems to state that if the hookup is NOT optional, even if they did not hook up, they had to pay, however, the other caselaw cited seems to clearly agree that if there was no "consideration" i.e. service or available service,there could be no billing (or lien). This is a fairly simple basic part of common law, you cannt be a party to a contract unless there is consideration, so they cannot legally claim you are obligated to pay on a contract that you derived no benefit from, as you didn't LIVE THERE!! Now, if they had placed a lien on the property, it would have been discovered prior to your closing, but they didn't, and NO Court can possibly hold you liable under a contract for which you derived no benefit.
