Question
QUESTION: Jeff,

I hope to keep this as brief as possible. We built our home 12 years ago. At the time, we were worried because the lot looked low in comparison to the neighbor to the north of us. We are the last lot on a cul-de-sac, with no one on the other side of us (empty land due to utilities) and a neighbor from the side street's yard behind us. We visited the Village offices on more than one occasion to express our concerns. We were assured each time that we would be okay, they would not allow the builder to have our home lower than our neighbor. Well, as you probably guessed, we are at least 2 feet lower than the neighbor. The Village claims they would never have told us that. They state that our water problems are due to a hilly subdivision and that the storm drain on our property is designed so that water may flow from other lots into ours before it goes to the drain. Initially we had one ejector pump and one sump pump in our basement. Both pumps ran constantly. The Village did make the builder put in another sump pump and also dug up our basement to allow the water to flow to the pump rather than the ejector pump, as it is suppose to only pump out the sewage water into the sewer lines. This did not really help. All 3 pumps now pump and did not stop the ejector pump as planned. The Village did not know what to do so they just threw up their hands and quit. We did the best we could. We added extenders to our downspouts directing the water to the edge of our property, put in a french drain and berm to the side with the higher neighbor, planted willows to soak up as much water as possible. The neighbor refused to do anything with his downspouts, even if we did all the work and paid the cost. Therefore, we don't know what else we can do.
Our plan to finish our basement is gone and we have had some cracks in the basement floor that have turned color. We complained to the assessor's office and he came out and looked at everything. He agreed that our house was not worth as much due to this on going problem and assessed us accordingly. We were fine until 2 years ago when our assessment took a huge jump in 1 year. We called the assessor's office and found out that this gentlemen had left for another office. No one there would tell us why we went up so much, in 1 year. This year, someone advised us to go in person. They told us, the water problem was no longer listed on our property, so that is why it went up so much so fast. They refused to reinstate it even though the water problem is no better. In fact, this past fall, we were gone 1 day and when we came home, one of the pumps had quit and we had water in the basement. We appealed and they told us they need something in writing showing that we actually have a problem and that is does affect the worth of our house. We have no idea who to go to. A realtor may not know enough to assess the problem. An appraiser is very expensive here and again there is no way to know if they know enough to help us. The Village would be no help. Would we contact a plumber, engineer, or who? Any opinion you could offer, would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,
Dennis

ANSWER: I recommend hiring a consulting engineer who does property and building inspections to prepare a condition report for you, and present it to your local government agency, while at the same time filing an official complaint with the State agency who oversees the building codes.  It would not hurt to tell your story to the local and state politicians for your area as well.  I would also strongly consider contacting an attorney or some sort of legal advocate.  In many states there are Boards of Equalization that handle tax and assessment issues, so look into that as well.  But be prepared when you do all these things.  Have your ducks in a row, and provide solid information that is backed up by expert opinion.

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QUESTION: Thank you so much for your advice on this issue.  Would you have any idea what a consulting engineer would charge? Will it be difficult to find one?  

Answer
Contact your local government agency to see if they have a recommendation, or just look in the yellow pages.  In my state we have Certified Home Inspectors who would probably be able to provide similar reports.  Also contact your homeowners insurance before doing anything else.  They may cover the costs.