Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Ultimately, the person who dumped the garbage is responsible. But public entities normally try to force the current owner to pay, and often impose a lien on the property that becomes part of the property tax bill and must be paid with the property taxes or a penalty is imposed. You then have to go after the prior owner unless it was clear that they were supposed to take care of the garbage. They may argue that they sold the property to you for less because they discounted it by the cost of cleaning up the garbage. You have to see if the written documents cover it. You could sue whomever originally dumped the garbage but would probably have to sue within three years of the last dumping because of the trespass statute of limitations.

Under CEQA or CERCLA, any owner and some lenders may have joint and several liability for environmental cleanup costs. An innocent purchaser who has buys after making a reasonable investigation without discovering the pollution problem may have a defense. There is a good article on the subject available at:

http://www.eminentdomain-law.com/practice-areas/ceqa-environmental-law/environmental-law-and-your-business/

not unless you made that a part of the contract.