Real Estate Investor · State College , PA · Member since 2009 · 594 posts · 173 votes
I am rehabbing a house that has a buried oil tank in the backyard. It is not needed anymore. The house is in Pa. I popped off the fill lid today and it has about 1 inch of fuel left in it. It has probably been in the ground for a long time and does not appear to be leaking.
1. Should I just empty it, rip the top off and fill it with dirt?
2. Should I call in someone who will basically do the same thing? I am concerned he will not sign off on anything without a environmental test. Big$$$$
3. Should I just leave it in, disclosure it of course, and invariably have either the home inspector/bank underwriter or appraiser basically push me back to option 2?
Basically is there anyway out of this, less having an expensive environmental test.
Thanks, never had a buried tank on the lot before.
Note that when your kids sell your home, they will need to disclose the underground tank. Of course, the law may change between now and then. :)
Actually, when the children sell, they might do so as executors of the estate - and executors are exempt from having to disclose (at least at this time). Once any heir takes title, then the disclosure would be required. Of course, the law could change over time as Chris already pointed out ;)
There is a thread titled "PA Laws" that has links to some of this Seller's Disclosure stuff.
Well the deal is that in pa there is no regulation on tank removal/filling. As long as the tank is on the smaller side. I think the EPA guy said something like 1000 gallons. There is regulation on transporting that kind of waist. Hence the following:
In any event, what I did was call code enforcer and got his buy in. Called a local environmental cleanup company who will provide me with a 50 gallon drum. Cut top of the tank off. Remove oil and squidgy down the sides. Take some pictures. Put waist in the drum. Have it taken away and send invoice of drum and pics to code guy. I think with that kind of paper trail I should fair well on my disclosure and appease the appraisers/inspectors and underwriters. Thanks for watching.
By the way. They are charging me $500 to haul away 2 gallons of fuel oil and sludge. That's seems messed up. I guess the EPS guys need family vac too.
Thanks @Account Closed for info. I have an underground tank. Twenty years ago when we bought the property, didn't pay much attention to that line item disclosed on property disclosure since we were switching to gas prior to moving in. Years later I did become concerned should we sell the property, we might have an issue. Turns out residential PA seller/prop disclosure statement removed any reference to underground tanks. We never sold the property anyway.
Can you share your total costs for oil tank removal? I see u're in my alma mater locale. Thanks!
to have someone come in and do the whole job is around $1600 . If you do it yourself and pay for the environmentally safe drum the drum lalone will cost you 500 bucks thereabouts The labors the labor and you have to have some kind of material to fill the tank. After some consideration last night I decided that I'm not going to get the drum and just put the oil removed into the house oil tank . So if you take this route the cost is minimal
i'm not sure I understand your statement about the line item being removed from the sellers disclosure In Pennsylvania there are two references to buried tanks
... Turns out residential PA seller/prop disclosure statement removed any reference to underground tanks. ...
That is definitely not true. I just recently received a copy of the Latest revision to the minimum PA seller's disclosure form from the State Real Estate Commission (it is not published yet since it requires one additional approval), and I can assure you that buried oil tanks are still an item listed in that seller's disclosure form. If you use the PAR seller's disclosure form, it includes everything in the state's minimum seller's disclosure form PLUS a bunch of additional stuff to disclose that is not required to be disclosed under the PA law.
Until that sludge clogs the burner fuel apertures ... then you have the expense to get the system cleaned. And in a rental, you almost have to assume the tenant will sooner or later let that tank run low enough on fuel to the point that the sludge will get into the fuel lines that feed the burner.
Thanks for your update @Steve Babiak. My experience with the tank was 20 yrs. it was not the case when I had concerns. (I spoke off line to an epa guy who essentially told me to not dredge up problems until they are a problem. The next year the pa property disclosure had removed it on residential but remained in commercial properties). I agree that all sellers should disclose property defects but you also know that is not always the case. For us, it doesn't matter since the kids will sell the property after our deaths. However, good to know.
@Account Closed point about sludge clogging the burner fuel apertures is to donate the oil to a local auto shop. I am not sure in your city, but in my town many auto shops use old oil to heat their shops or they recycle it and get money to do so. Call around and someone may take oil for free. I would recommend removing and disposing of the tank properly. Even if there is no need to disclose, you still want to do the right thing and at least remove it properly.
@Mags S. If the issue came up 20 years ago, you sold the home before the Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law ("RESDL") became the law. @Steve Babiak is correct that since RESDL, you must disclosure location of any "fuel tank." This is true regardless of whether you used the PAR approved form, or the minimum required form published by the State.
Note that when your kids sell your home, they will need to disclose the underground tank. Of course, the law may change between now and then. :)
Note that when your kids sell your home, they will need to disclose the underground tank. Of course, the law may change between now and then. :)
Actually, when the children sell, they might do so as executors of the estate - and executors are exempt from having to disclose (at least at this time). Once any heir takes title, then the disclosure would be required. Of course, the law could change over time as Chris already pointed out ;)
There is a thread titled "PA Laws" that has links to some of this Seller's Disclosure stuff.
Note that when your kids sell your home, they will need to disclose the underground tank. Of course, the law may change between now and then. :)
Actually, when the children sell, they might do so as executors of the estate - and executors are exempt from having to disclose (at least at this time). Once any heir takes title, then the disclosure would be required. Of course, the law could change over time as Chris already pointed out ;)
There is a thread titled "PA Laws" that has links to some of this Seller's Disclosure stuff.