There's a Tank in the Yard: What to Do About Buried Heating Oil When You're Buying, Selling, or Inheriting Home

Two pipes in the yard. Nobody knows what's under them.An inspector spots a capped pipe beside the foundation. A buyer's attorney sends over a paragraph of demands. A parent's house turns out to have a tank no one has thought about in forty years.A buried heating oil tank is usually a manageable problem. It is also one of the few residential issues where the worst case is a six-figure cleanup with no one else to send the bill to, and where almost everyone offering advice has a stake in what you decide. The agent wants the deal to close. The contractor earns more from a leak than from a clean tank. The seller wants it to go away.This book has no stake. It walks through the three questions that decide everything: Is there a tank? What condition is it in? Did it leak? Then it explains what to do with the answers.Inside: - How to spot a tank from the pipes, the basement, and the records, and what a professional tank sweep can and cannot find- Why "the tank was decommissioned" proves less than it sounds, and what a closure report has to contain- How soil testing works, what it costs, and how to read the lab sheet- What removal and closure in place each involve, what each reveals, and what each does to resale- What happens when a leak is found, from the reporting call to the state closure letter- The pollution exclusion in your homeowner policy, the two states that legislated around it, and where state funds still exist- How lenders and appraisers treat tanks, and how to keep one from stalling financing- Separate playbooks for buyers, sellers, and heirs settling an estate- How to hire a tank contractor, with the itemized quote and the stop-work clause that keep a small job small- State-by-state rules for New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Maryland, Washington, and Oregon- Eight worked scenarios, checklists, question lists for sellers, contractors, lenders, and insurers, a decision tree, and an agency directoryWritten for the person who found the pipe yesterday and has a closing date next month. Know what you are looking at before you sign.