Rust never sleeps and even buried metal tank will eventually leak, this is a scientific fact. Environmental regulations place the burden of the cleanup of these tanks on the property owner, even if the owner never used the tank or knew the tank was present.
Following this finder's keeper's logic (yes laws are not fair), sellers have incentive to not disclose oil tanks and buyers have motivation to evaluate for hidden tanks. Hence why buyers need to do a tank sweep.
Tank Scan with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
Unless you are involved with real estate and liability protection, a tank sweep may be a foreign term to you, but it is a common inspection when buying both residential and commercial property. Tank scans or sweeps are performed as part of normal buyer due diligence during a real estate transaction. When you sign a contract to purchase a property contact Curren for a contract to scan for a buried oil tank. Due diligence is what a buyer performs prior to purchase, to protect themselves from the liability of oil tank. Tank leaks are expensive to cleanup as the photo below represents. Tank leak cleanup of $30,000 to over $100,000.00 are not uncommon.
Don’t count on a seller disclosing a buried oil tank is present on the property you are buying. Curren was contracted by a buyer to perform a GPR scan of a property at a family home for sale at the shore. Curren found the tank, which it turns out the family members knew was present, but was not disclosed to the buyer. (Yes if the buyers actually disclosed the tank, our client would have saved the cost of the GPR scan, but it turns out the money spent was priceless). The individual family members had questions and concerns about what would happen if the long since abandoned oil tank was removed and a leak was found. The buyer and their mortgage company demanded the tank be removed and tested for the transaction to go to settlement. Concern grew to the point that they sellers let the sale fall through so the buyer who wanted the tank removed could be released from the contract of sale. Bottom line the sellers didn't want to face the cost of a cleanup from the tank leak. What happened next? Well the home was listed for sale again with no detail or representation of a buried oil tank. Now the sellers and the seller's realtor were obligated to disclose this information, that a tank was present. New buyer comes along and buys the home, without performing a tank sweep. A month later the neighbor asked why they didn’t have the tank removed, new owner says what tank? The attorneys are managing this issue now.
Curren has removed, remediated & located thousands of tanks
Don’t you want to deal with an expert?
Protect yourself, contact Curren 888-301-1050
