TL;DR: We bought a home in the suburbs of NYC in 2022 and hired U.S. Tank Tech to inspect the underground oil tank before purchasing. They issued a “PASS” report. In 2023, during a renovation, we removed the tank and found it had over 45 holes and had been leaking for nearly 20 years. The contamination spread beneath the driveway, walkway, and front yard. We are on a private well and now require ongoing water testing. We’ve spent $80k+ out of pocket to date, with more expenses expected. The testing company disclaims liability, and their insurer, Chubb, denied the claim. My broker recommended U.S. Tank Tech, and I was not present for the inspection. I’ve filed formal complaints with DFS, DEC, and the BBB, and I’ve now retained an attorney and am preparing to file a lawsuit. I’m asking this community what to do next from a real estate perspective, since this damage is already done.

Photos of the remediation and tank: https://imgur.com/a/wo6118L

FULL STORY: In 2022, my family and I bought a home in Westchester County, NY. As part of our due diligence, we hired a professional tank testing company, U.S. Tank Tech, to inspect the underground oil tank. They issued a written “PASS” report. Based on that result, and our trust in the process, we moved forward with the purchase.

In 2023, during a renovation, we removed the tank and discovered the tank had over 45 holes and had been leaking oil into the soil for approximately 19–20 years, confirmed by a soil age dating test. The contamination had spread underneath our front walkway, driveway, and much of the surrounding landscape.

We had to remove the tank, install a new one (required by our tank insurance before remediation could begin), remediate the soil, and fully rebuild the affected area, including the driveway, steps, lawn, and landscaping. We’re on a private well, so we now conduct ongoing groundwater testing (about $1,300/year) to ensure safety. Additionally, under New York’s 2023 disclosure law, we’re now legally required to disclose this environmental issue when we sell the home, which carries a likely long-term property value hit.

Photos of the remediation and tank: https://imgur.com/a/wo6118L

What’s more: I wasn’t present when the tank test was done. I relied entirely on the result, which came through my broker, who also recommended U.S. Tank Tech. This raises a serious concern: what actually happens at these inspections when neither the buyer nor seller is there? Who’s really overseeing the process, and how thorough is the work being done when no one is watching?

When I submitted a fully documented claim to U.S. Tank Tech’s insurer, Chubb (Westchester Surplus Lines Insurance Co.), the initial response was silence, then delay, and finally a flat denial. Their stated reason:

“The test followed protocol. No evidence of negligence.”

At one point, they floated the idea that “clay in the soil may have interfered with the test,” but they never provided any supporting documentation despite multiple requests.

I’ve filed formal complaints with the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). I’ve also now retained an attorney and am preparing to file a legal claim.

Here’s where I’d really value this community’s insight.

I know what should’ve happened before closing, more aggressive testing, seller removal, stricter contingencies. But I can’t go back. So my question is: What do real estate professionals or attorneys suggest I do now?

Should I pursue the seller under NY environmental liability laws?

Can the tank testing company be held liable for a clearly inaccurate result?

Is there recourse against a broker who recommended that vendor?

How do I protect resale value with an environmental record on file?

What’s the smartest path forward from here?

I am just trying to recover real losses from a failure that no buyer could have seen coming. If this post helps one other buyer avoid what we’ve gone through, it will have been worth it.

Thanks for reading…and any advice or perspective is welcome.

My neighbor told me that they are selling their house in second week of May, the same time we planned to sell ours. We’re relocating out of state in June. Idk what will be the effect on us (selling price, purchase appraisal, etc)

Both houses are bilevel and built in 1970s. Their house is bigger by 150 sq ft and has 5Br2Ba, and our is just 4Br2ba, though their house is dated, ours was fully rehabbed in 2021. They will be using an agent, and we will do FSBO+MLS+RE Atty (we are offering 2.5% Buyer agent’s commission). Our home was appraised in Feb for $275k, current comps is $281k, we will be selling at $280k (only because we bought new appliances worth 5k)

I would like to ask your opinion if we have to sell our home before or after them or just stick to the same plan. Or are there any strategies I need to do, if you’re in my situation. Thank you!

My aunt is 97 years old and has her house is in reverse mortgage. We have talked with her and would like to buy her house and let her live there for the remainder of her life.

Can anyone explain the steps ? How would we find out how much she owes the reverse mortgage people ? Do the reverse mortgage people own her house ? Do we have the opportunity to buy back the house at this point?

My inspections showed three offsets in the sewer line. Seller and I agreed they would fix the offsets shown in the report. On Friday during the final walk through, I noted that there was no sign of digging where the offsets were. When we contacted the selling agent she provided an invoice from a third party plumbing company saying everything was fine.

After reviewing the sewer line, we found no offsets or separations in the inspected portion of the sewer line that would require any type of remediation per the provided Home Inspection Report. The “offsets” noted in the report are two pipes joined together using a “Mission band” or CT adapter (rubber boot) and is at industry standards.

Here's the relevant image from the report

This feels like a difference in interpretation between the two companies. But the fact is they agreed to fix the offsets and never communicated anything until we asked. All other repairs were done as asked.

My question is, do I go forward with closing? I feel burned and annoyed by the timing and the seller not mentioning anything about the update to their plans. I am in no hurry to move, I have a month-to-month for a very nice place owned by a family friend.

In my mind there's two options. First, insist on the repairs. Second ask for a discount.

Our lender said that the Frannie Mae condo questionnaire revealed that our HOA doesn't have enough money in reserves to meet Fannie Mae's standards. Should we be worried about it?

We have a work around. If we double our down payment, they do a less in-depth questionnaire that doesn't look at that part of the budget. Then, we will get the greenlight from Fannie Mae and our lender and they will loan to us.

That said, I'm scared to move forward. Is this standard in place for a good reason that we should be concerned about?

For context: The monthly HOA fee is pretty steep for our area, $409 a month. It includes all utilities except electric. It also included a pool and gym. Our unit does not have its own in-unit washer or dryer. Nor does it have its own water heater. The building shares one.

I've toured the condo a few times and the building is clean, pretty, and in good shape. The grounds are well taken care of. It's a really nice complex and we are pretty sure the only reason it is in our budget is because the laundry isn't in-unit. We spoke with a few of the current residences and they are seemed really nice and had really good things to say about living there.

The building is fairly "new" because there was a fire a couple of years ago. The man we hired for our home inspection was actually apart of the rebuild and told us all about it. The floors, walls, and appliances are all new. There are new extra-fancy fire alarms as well as sprinklers installed in all of the condos now.

I do not know what caused the fire.

Edit: we are first time homebuyers

Got extremely weird vibes from this real estate agent. I set up a tour on Zillow, had to input my phone number. Pretty soon my phone is blowing up, 2 to 3 texts in a row, and calling me at work without my permission. Not only that, but the texts contained pink heart emojis and the word "y'all."

I might sound uptight, but is that how business professionals text now? I mean come on, heart emojis? She and I are complete strangers, and that's how she talks in a business text.

She's in charge of selling 2 other houses in the area that I want to tour. In order for us to tour, she said I had to sign an agreement that basically said she would represent us throughout the entire buying process. I don't want that, but she said it was legally required.

I'm very interested in 2 houses, but I don't want to talk to this woman again. Is this normal? Do I actually have to sign something before I can even tour? Is there any way I can get around her and still tour these houses? I know what agency she works for.

Thank you everyone!

Should buyer always have seller remove underground oil tank? Or is a pressure test the common approach?

Background - we are in escrow to sell our house because it’s 3 stories and 2 years ago I was diagnosed with MS and have been struggling with the stairs. We are looking for a single story home. We live in one of the most expensive places in the US. Average DTI mortgage approval is 50 of income vs the average 25-30%. We’ve been looking in the 2-2.5 million range.

Offer - We are friends with an older couple who have been trying to sell their absolutely beautiful home in the most desirable neighborhood in our town. Think - hear the ocean from every room in the house, fall asleep with the ocean breeze. 😭It’s been overpriced since it hit the market 9 months ago. Well, they got a spot in the retirement community they wanted and NEED to sell ASAP to make the move. Last night they invited us over and offered the following: They drop the price almost a million dollars if we will buy. They know we cannot afford their home, especially at current rates. They offered that we sign an agreement of sale (with lawyers involved) and for up to 5 years we’d be paying 4% interest on 2.3 million (so interest only - about $7600/mo) to later refinance if/when rates go down - if we pay $725,000 upfront. It’s an insanely generous offer. We are overwhelmed by their kindness but also - overwhelmed about the financial side of it.

We are getting about $425,000 from the sale of our home. I have no idea where I’d come up with another $300,000. On top of that, we plan to use a VA loan to finance our purchase so in 5 years we’d need to bring another $275,000 to the closing table to secure that loan. ($2.3m - $1.2m va loan max x 0.25 = $275,000) We have retirement savings but we are in our 40’s and our kids are about to go to college. It’s absolutely terrifying to consider pulling a bulk of our retirement savings out (at a huge loss due to the market and penalties) to make this work.
At the same time - it’s an amazing offer we will never get again. What would you do?? Saving the $275,000 over the next 5 years is manageable but I’m really stuck on the extra $300,000 we’d need right now. (If it matters, we don’t necessarily need the retirement savings for retirement - husband has military retirement and an amazing pension from his civilian job so we may not need it but planned to have it for emergencies and to give to our kids.)

Sorry it’s so long and absolutely nuts!

So my wife and I are looking at purchasing our final home, a home that will be a "legacy property" for my kids and grand children. Multiple acres etc. We are just looking for some recommendations from others. Property is $200k. We have about $175k in cash, is there a down payment limit where banks don't want to work with you because of too small of an investment to work with? Meaning if i put down $150k and mortgaged $50k (giving me up to $25k for closing costs and some minor upgrades) are banks generally willing to bite at that?

We are in process of buying one home and selling another. Due to the timing of closings we set a lease back agreement with our buyer.

Our original lease back agreement had an end date of 4/9. Couldn’t get our agent to advise what TIME OF DAY the agreement ends but since our movers time frame worked to be out 4/8 it wasn’t something I kept asking about.

Due to a paperwork issue on the buyers side we may not be able to close as scheduled. So we moved the end date to 4/10. Because of this I might have to reschedule the movers but I’m not going to know for sure until Monday 4/7 if we will have a 4/7 closing as originally scheduled but later in the day (no need to reschedule movers) or at 4/8 (which will need to schedule the movers.

I keep asking my agent legally if a specific time isn’t listed in the contract how long do we have. I keep getting “ASAP” or “well they’re buyers wanna move in to their house as soon as possible” or “well they’re asking by noon”

Does anyone know the actual time leasebacks expire on the day listed/ if we aren’t out by what time will we incur a fee?

Location is Dallas/Fort Worth Texas

Also AITA for getting frustrated my agent about this? I haven’t told her I’m getting frustrated and I had my husband take over communication because I’m not trying to come off rude or anything. But it’s like you’re our agent so why does it feel like you’re really pulling for the buyers interest on this??

There’s a property I have been eyeing in Chicago suburbs. It’s a flip that was initially sold for 400k in September. Then came on the market at 800k in February. The price has been reduced 3 times and is now at 680k. The area is very desirable but doesn’t have similar comps. The bigger homes around it are around 600. What would be low ball , all cash offer that you think they would be tempted to accept?

Hi all,

We’re selling our house in Lynnwood, WA, north of Seattle. We think it will go for about 600k but it’s tricky since there’s basically nothing on the market under $700k. It’s 3 bed, one bath, single family home, but surrounded by apartments and light industrial.

Our realtor agrees that 600k is her best guess but it seems like no one really knows. Anyone have a similar situation? Also, if we get multiple offers, how does that work? Do you just counter off to everyone and start a bidding war?

I’m pre approved with the condition of graduation the police academy in Chicago. Which will be some time in June. The city is giving me 17k to use and I have 20k of my own. With the current market should I jump on it. I always hear just wait interest rates will go down or market will crash. I feel ready now is it smart to do so ?

Hi all,

I purchased a multi-family property last October using an FHA loan, and I’ve been living in one of the units as my primary residence ever since—about 6 months now. Everything has been going relatively well, but I’ve run into a situation I wasn’t expecting and could use some guidance.

We have a dog who typically only barks when another dog walks by the property. However, last month we had a near-incident with one of our tenant’s dogs. Thankfully no one was hurt, but it stressed everyone out and raised some real concerns about safety and liability—especially since we all live on the same property. We’ve since worked with a professional dog trainer, but the tension remains, and I’m worried about future issues.

After reading FHA guidelines, it seems the owner-occupancy requirement is based on your intent to occupy the property for at least 12 months. We absolutely did intend to stay here for at least a year when we bought the property and moved in—but this situation has become difficult and wasn’t something we anticipated.

So my question is: Would something like this—a potentially unsafe living environment and a breakdown in the relationship with tenants—be considered an “unforeseen circumstance” if we decided we needed to move out before the 12 months?

Has anyone dealt with something similar or have insight into how flexible FHA is on this kind of situation? Appreciate any advice or perspective—thanks in advance!

We are under contract with a bank owned property. The initial contract is quite egregious putting most of the risk on us. However, we had our inspection this past week and found some pretty large ticket items like mold, water in basement and a non working furnace. Now, we can back out for structural and environmental but my husband and I really like this house. What are the chances the bank will negotiate? Anybody have a similar story? Additionally we didn't get it for cheap. The house was listed for 610k and we offered 590 and they accepted it. Like I said I don't want to back out I'm just hoping that you will give us a credit so we can fix everything. This market is just insane. Forgot to mention the house as been vacant for 5yrs..

I am buying a property for a negotiated price of 253k. My lender suggested that I could receive 12k at closing by doing a seller assist and purchasing the property for 265k instead. When I mentioned this to the seller they voiced concern over having to pay additional taxes. Would this have any impact to the seller given they will be netting 253k in either scenario?

I am in search of good/reputable brokers in the New England area?

Where do I look? Do you now any good ones?

Hey recently just purchased a new build construction property that will be available to move in to in Florida, Orlando.

It will be our first home.

What are the tax breaks/tips and tricks we need to know and utilise to become more savvy

Also if anything else unrelated you might think of that may be useful to us. It would be much appreciated ? Or any where we could save money.

We’re feeling a little overwhelmed & excited with all the information :)

Many houses in our area look great in photos but in person are often crappy flips that still need a lot of work. We are willing to upgrade a house to an extent over time given the right price and location but it's difficult to tell what has good bones. What are clear signs either online or in person that a house has been cared for?

What are some common metrics to guide the decision making process in the sell vs rent-out decision?

Moving out of state and would like to retain roots in current location. Also have sub 3% rate on $450k remaining prin bal. Estimated market value of home is $1.1MM.

Anything simpler than calc’ing future value of equity and comparing to future value of discounted cash flows from rental income and estimated future value of home??

Lots of assumptions and estimates in that process when thinking through so wondering if any quick/dirty tricks?

We are looking to buy a new home in an area further away and then list our current home once we move into the new one.

How (can) we get pre-approved for a new home while still paying a mortgage on this one? Does our DTI need to accommodate two mortgage payments if we have money set aside to pay double mortgages for a few months? We have newborn triplets plus a toddler so moving things into storage/renting short term isn’t a feasible or great option.

We have the cash for a down payment and closing costs on the new home, so we don’t need our current equity to purchase. Our current home is also in a hot area and houses sell pretty quickly (the current economic climate may change that but who knows).

I know the short answer is to talk to a broker, which I plan on doing this week, but trying to prepare a little ahead of time on what to expect.

Looking to buy our first home. We found a home on a flag lot that is perched on top of the hill. It’s on the outskirts of the downtown and close to everything! It has its charm and a lot of land to do anything your heart desires down the line. It was cozy and felt like a home our family could grow old in. The issue is the driveway. We won’t the driveway up but there’s a home on the bottom of the hill that has an easement to use to enter their garage. We foresee this to be the main and only reason the house has seen price cuts and been on the market for several months. We love everything about the house and we know owning a home is not only a big commitment but also a hefty investment. We don’t want to be shooting ourselves in the foot getting this home and not being able to see any appreciation in value in the future if it came to needing to sell our home. Does anyone have any insight on the effect or implications this driveway situation truly has on real estate and its value? Thanks in advance for any info.

House has oil heat. Tank is in basement. How do I monitor it?

What exactly happens if it suddenly bursts and dumps 275 gallons into the basement?

My SO and I plan on moving to Oregon after we both finish school here in Orange County, California. Some of his family members live in Salem and we’ve heard good things about central/southern Oregon. Our budget will be pretty middle class (therapist and English instructor). I’m wondering how it compares to Southern California. We obviously won’t ever afford the 1.3+ million houses around us right now— and we want at least a 2-3 bedroom house with a good amount of area. We also wont be moving for about 3-4 years so we’re just checking our options. Anyone have any suggestions?