Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois

We live inside city limits (Carbondale, IL) and have a broken sewer line in the easement in front of our house. The city maintains that the sewer line is a private run, even though they own the land, and the gas and water lines which lie directly above the sewer line. They say that when it was made, in 1948, the 4" pipe run was dug by the homeowner, so it's obviously not their responsibility since they only install 8" runs on water mains that are up to code. We have paid monthly monies to the city for sewer services. Does the sewer belong to the city or the homeowner? Who is responsible for paying to have it repaired?


Asked on 2/04/11, 10:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Most likely you are responsible. An "easement" area is simply a portion of land that you own but others have been given rights to. Just because the line is in the easement area is therefore not determinative. The question is whether it is in the run from your house to the point where it taps into their line, or is in the portion of the line beyond the tap-in, which may serve more than just your house. Paying for water and sewer service is potentially irrelevant. A plumber can help you sort this out. It may also be covered under your HO insurance. The size of the line is also not necessarily determinative, depending on when it was installed.

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Answered on 2/07/11, 12:58 pm


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