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Horror Stories!

Every year presents itself with unque stories. I have seen wells located across property lines becasue of improper permitting or lot splits, vacant lots that cannot meet setback requirements to continue building the structure, wells "stolen" by open and nototious use by a neighbor, and appraisers who mistake a hauled water system for a well. This last year was definitely the year of the "animal." We had more enouters with animal problems than any year in the past. Below are a few pictures that document the year in review.
Open Well Head
The pictiure below is the top of an open well. If you look closely, the sandy element that appears on the floor is actallty rat feces. In this instance, the rats decided to make a nest in the pump house and many of them fell down the hole as they sniffed for water in the night. Open well heads are problematic becasue animals often find thier way into them.
Too Close to Livestock
Wells that are too close to livestock often have problems. This is the remains of a chicken that had fallen down the well when someone was working on it. Fecal matter that settles close to well heads is often washed into the wells if they are not sealed correctly or even temporarily uncovered.
Intestines....
This is a string of rat intestines that was removed from a well in Yucca Valley. Once again, the well was not covered and became plugged with approximately 10-15 dead rats floating on the surface of the water. This type of issue is curable, but a simple cap or proper well seal would have prevented this hazard.

Real Estate Related... Life Experience Counts!

Life expereice eventually counts for something. Over the years I have seen the following: 1) Open and notorious use easement. A client connected his property to the neighbors well for 5 years and used it open and notoriously. When the absentee owner of the well arrived, he filed lawsuit and LOST in court. Right to use the well was granted to the THIEF. 2) Neighbor who secretly trenched and connected to subject well while the homeowner was on vacation... 3) Water theft by marijuana growers from a fire storage tank outside the fence line... 4) Wells drilled on the wrong side of the property line... 5) Out of state appraisers appraise a hauled water system as a water well. New home buyer called me to show them how the well functioned and I had to expalin that there was in realtiy NO WATER WELL ON THE PROPERTY. 6) A creatively "capped" well turnd out to be a 36" piece of steel shoved in to the dirt wth a welded cap on it. Seller claimed to have no knowledge of the conditon of the well. Buyer hd paid a premium for a well that never was. 7) Even real estate agents performing thier own water well inspection to save the homeowner a few dollars... and the well was actually running dry. Result: the Lender sued the agent becase the loan would not have been approved had they known the well was not considered a "viable utility" for the home.
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