Legal Advice for Water Dispute
Budget: $25 – $50 USD
A group of neighbors may need legal advice and possibly representation regarding a dispute with our private water and sewer provider over liability and responsibility for water line repairs.
The company owns and maintains the main line. But when the tap to the main line from someone's house fails, even though they spec'd, bought, and installed the taps themselves up to and including the shut off valve on the homeowner's property, they are now telling homeowners that it is there responsibility to pay for the repair costing people over $10K for each occurrence. The main line is 50 years old, made of transite, and contains asbestos. It should have been replaced years ago. Two houses have been forced to pay so far, and two more are also being told they will be asked to pay. That is a 40 percent failure rate on our street alone and we have heard that over a dozen have been replaced in the community this year so far.
On our block, we are a group of mostly retired people living in Colorado Springs CO, but in the unincorporated area. Most of us are retired and don't have $10K to hand to anyone. We believe our part that we have to maintain is from the curbout to our house only, and that appears to be what we see in PUC regulations like Rule 5209. We don't know if our utility is regulated by the PUC or not, and what options we may have at this point, or if contacting the PUC will do a dang thing. If not, we will be looking for legal support.
Ideal skills and experience:
- Knowledge of water district policies
- Experience in dispute resolution
- Familiarity with liability issues and legal advice
The company owns and maintains the main line. But when the tap to the main line from someone's house fails, even though they spec'd, bought, and installed the taps themselves up to and including the shut off valve on the homeowner's property, they are now telling homeowners that it is there responsibility to pay for the repair costing people over $10K for each occurrence. The main line is 50 years old, made of transite, and contains asbestos. It should have been replaced years ago. Two houses have been forced to pay so far, and two more are also being told they will be asked to pay. That is a 40 percent failure rate on our street alone and we have heard that over a dozen have been replaced in the community this year so far.
On our block, we are a group of mostly retired people living in Colorado Springs CO, but in the unincorporated area. Most of us are retired and don't have $10K to hand to anyone. We believe our part that we have to maintain is from the curbout to our house only, and that appears to be what we see in PUC regulations like Rule 5209. We don't know if our utility is regulated by the PUC or not, and what options we may have at this point, or if contacting the PUC will do a dang thing. If not, we will be looking for legal support.
Ideal skills and experience:
- Knowledge of water district policies
- Experience in dispute resolution
- Familiarity with liability issues and legal advice