Advertisement
CONFESSION #0917 — POST-CLOSE CATASTROPHE
Thursday, October 1, 2026
The MLS listing had a mistake. Said the property had city sewer. It didn't.
Friday 4pm: closing complete. Keys handed over. Champagne at the new house.
Friday 9pm: buyers run the dishwasher for the first time.
Saturday 6am: septic tank backs up into the basement. Raw sewage. Three inches of it.
Saturday 8am: I get the call. Buyer is screaming. Actually screaming.
Monday: septic company says the tank hasn't been pumped in maybe 12 years. Maybe longer. They can't tell.
Tuesday: seller claims she didn't know. Says her husband handled it. Husband died in 2019.
Wednesday: remediation quote comes in. $14,000 for cleanup. Another $8,000 for the tank.
Thursday: buyers' attorney calls my broker.
The listing agent was me. I pulled the info from tax records. Tax records were wrong.
Advertisement
Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF NEGLIGENT SEWAGE PROPAGATION AND RECKLESS RELIANCE ON MUNICIPAL DOCUMENTATION
The Court has reviewed this confession and finds itself PHYSICALLY ILL, not from the sewage — though Reginald has strong feelings about basement waterproofing — but from the sheer audacity of trusting tax records like they were handed down from Moses himself on stone tablets. You pulled sewer data from a GOVERNMENT DATABASE and expected it to be ACCURATE? In THIS economy? The Court cites the landmark case of Septic v. The Concept of Due Diligence, 2018, in which it was established that any agent who does not personally descend into the bowels of a property — LITERALLY — assumes full moral responsibility for whatever horrors lurk beneath. Three inches of raw sewage in a basement is not a mistake, counselor, it is a CHRISTENING, and you baptized those poor buyers into homeownership with the contents of a tank that predates the Obama administration. The Court once purchased a ranch-style home in 2014 and I can tell you I PERSONALLY inspected every pipe, every valve, every suspicious gurgle, because THAT is what separates professionals from people who treat tax assessor websites like the GOSPEL OF SAINT ZILLOW. The dead husband defense is noted but irrelevant — death does not excuse plumbing neglect, and frankly neither does life. This Court hereby sentences your reputation to remediation.
Cesspool of Negligence
Have a confession? Judge Reginald Escrow III's docket is always open.
Advertisement