Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

My situation is, the home my wife and I purchased in

March 2005 has sever ground water issues. Our basement

has already flooded 5 times,and we

are in the midst of another possible flood as I type.

Shortly after we moved in, I became aware of a drainage

easement that used to exist on the lot 4 lots down from

my property. Someone (not sure who owned it at the time,

but I believe it was government property, either city or

county) decided the drainage easement was not needed and

sold it to a developer. They back-filled it, but a

house, and sold it some time in 2001. My question is, do

I have any legal recourse to force the city or county to

A) fix the ground water problem, or B) force them to

declare the house uninhabitable as is (with a basement),

and purchase it from me, considering the removal of the

drainage easement?


Asked on 2/20/11, 4:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

You may have legal recourse. If the subdivision laid out a drainage easement for the benefit of your lot and it can be shown that there is a cause and effect between the sale of the easement and your flooding, whoever sold the easement may have some responsibility. Unfortunately some time has passed and there may be a statute of limitations issue among other things. Pursuing this would be costly; it would "help" if other property owners were similarly affected by the disposition of the easement and the new construction.

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Answered on 2/21/11, 8:01 am


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