ROUGH start. Sewer line repair plus forced added second water line for duplex?

[Lauren Adair]

My husband and I just bought a duplex in Ohio. Both sides already had tenants. 

A few days after closing, the duplex started having major sewer issues. Sewage and drain guys needing to come out to the property multiple times in multiple days. To make a long story short, it needed 2 new main sewer lines which cost well over $10k. While the new lines were being inspected, the city stated that the duplex only had 1 water line/meter coming in (which we knew about and pay the bill for) and that the property must have 2, so they were going to look into contacting us about having to add an additional water line to have both units be separate. I don't see any reason for this and have never heard of this. 

Is this how it goes sometimes? I feel like we are getting screwed left and right here, and that nothing is going right. Do all duplexes need all utilities separate? Is this just a particularly nit-picky city trying to get extra money? 

[Greg Scott]

City building people have their own agenda.  I give it a 50/50 chance you don't need to do that.

Ask them to cite the code that requires each side of the duplex have water / sewer then look up that code.  If that were the law, they should have been built that way originally.  See if you might be grandfathered.   If need be, check with a local attorney that specializes in building issues.