Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Indiana

septic assessment

We live in a modular home park, where we pay lot rent, yet own our home. The county is constructing a new sewer and septic service. Our landlord has wriiten us a letter for all his tenants in our area stating that we need to pay him an assessment ot 165.00 for each unit to have a 4 inch line connected to the main sewer line. This line is in the ground and comes up to our home on the outside. We have until August 2005 to pay him the amount of $ 165.00.

We do not feel that this cost should be passed onto each tenants home since it is his property and is up to him for maintenance. Please help us find out what our rights are in this situation.

Thank You,


Asked on 10/15/04, 4:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mary Ann Wunder Wunder & Wunder

Re: septic assessment

If you have a written lease from when you moved into the park, check its terms for whether the owner can assess each unit for improvements required by the county. If there is no lease, it is most likely that a court would require that each tenant pay such cost, as it would seem that you must be hooked up to the new system. Your option would be to move to a different park. If all (or a majority, or even a minority of) tenants object to the payment and fail to do so and the landlord loses a case in court to compel the payment, he will have the right to raise rent or merely terminate leases of the tenants who refuse to pay, causing a great deal more trouble than simply paying the assessment.

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Answered on 10/18/04, 12:22 pm


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