Natural Spring - Who do I contact?

Question

I had an inspector state that there were two natural springs under the crawl space of one of my homes I’m selling. I seriously doubt there are natural springs. Who can I contact to confirm if it is or not. Also,I had the house under contract and this scared them off. If It's proven that there are not natural springs under the crawl space can I hold the inspection company liable?

Lynn McGeein · Answer

We, too, were alarmed when discovering that Maryland is chock full of natural springs, so I can totally imagine the buyer walking, but they likely would have walked anyway unless the seller could prove exactly what was causing the water problem and that whatever remedy you used completely solved it with a long-term full warranty to back it up (and likely not even then).  When we were looking in Anne Arundel and surrounding areas, we looked for over a year for a single family detached home before we just settled on a cheaper condo as it became the easiest choice with less risk.   It seemed that around that entire area as far as single family detached, our choice was either old, pre-1978 (usually much older), or wet, take your pick.  Newer and dry seemed impossible, in our price range, anyway.  We figured the older homes must have taken all the good dry land as most of the newer ones seemed built on top of or near natural springs or in flood plains, most requiring sump pumps that all seemed to have gone out at some point during a storm and flooded the basements.  We were shocked at how normal it seemed or how accepted it was that you'd just be flooded occasionally.  When we did talk to actual owners, almost every one said, Oh, the sump pump failed during a storm.  Several homes actually had pumps throughout the yard just to keep all the water away from the house, and the realtor sounded like that was totally normal.

Richard C. · Answer

You're not getting a thing from the inspector.

First, usually the inspector works for the buyer, in the situation you describe.  They have absolutely zero duty to you.  And they do have a duty to their client to give their best professional opinion.

Second, even if they worked for you, I guarantee that their contract limits their liability to the amount of their fee, in virtually every circumstance.

Third, do you have any basis at all for your "serious doubt" or do you just hope that there are not springs?  Natural springs in places with high water tables are extremely common throughout the entire Northeastern quadrant of the country.

Steve Babiak · Answer

A number of years back, a house that sat on the block behind my rehab was already well into the rehab before mine started; and mine was finished first. So I was curious about what was the cause of the delay in that other property; a code official said that there was a spring on the property in the area where they were apparently trying to get a foundation wall for an addition. Not fun.

Then there was the one REO where the electric was on while the bank owned it; that is quite the oddity in that area. Well, the electric had to be on to power the sump pump that was constantly running even though no rain had fallen in a couple of weeks (mid-summer).  My guess is that there was a spring putting all that water into the basement area.

So being scared off by a spring close to the structure makes sense. Proving there is or isn't a spring I guess is a bit tougher. The inspector has a duty to their client to report the inspection findings ... and if in the inspector's opinion there was a spring ... you would then have to demonstrate the opposite somehow.

Damien Clark · Answer

I would think if the inspector stated there are natural springs when there is not that would fall back on them to some degree. That scared the buyers away. It appears that water sits under the crawl pace only when it rains so we are installing a drainage system. If the inspector just stated there is water under the crawl space that needed to be addressed instead of calling it a natural spring perhaps the buyers wouldn't have backed out and just allowed us to fix the problem.

Bob B. · Answer

I assume the inspector checked the water meter.

Why would the inspector be liable? If there is any liability it's minimal, as they are inspecting and not certifying the property.

There could be natural springs and if so I can understand why the buyers would back out.

You might need a soil scientist to  look at it and if he/she agrees with the inspector than see what the solution is.

Andrew Syrios · Answer

I wish I could say more, but all I can tell you is we've had two properties that had natural springs under them. They were both rentals, though, and so we just kind of dealt with it. One was in the yard and I think we did something to mitigate it (it was a while ago), but we basically just said this is what you get. The other was under the crawlspace and we just put a sump pump down there and figure it will go out and need to be replaced in a few years. I don't think they are the end of the world, but I can definitely see why they would scare a homeowner. You might call a few plumbers and contractors and see what they have to say about it.

Damien Clark · Answer

Anyone have any advice?

Natural Spring - Who do I contact?

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