We are on Septic, "Will we be able to sell our house?" - drain field is not on our property.

Question

My question for you is: Is this legal? Would we be able to sell our house with the drain field across the street from our property? What should we do?

Richard Sternberg · Answer

You should start with a title search of the property where the septic tank or field is located to make sure you have an enforceable easement that runs with the land. You may then want an engineering, environmental study. If anything doesn’t clear, you need to review your title insurance policy. What you plainly cannot do is conceal or fail to disclose during a sale.

Cedulie Renee Laumann · Answer

Some options in situations like this are getting and recording an easement from the neighbor on whose property the drain field lies, or,  in some situations, replacing the entire septic system with a documented one solely on the right property.      
 
An environmental study might not be necessary but getting records from the health department (or whatever department in your county has records of private septic systems) and a survey probably are both essential first steps.  
 
The big wrinkle in your question is "across the road"  since it implies not only septic on two properties (yours and your neighbors) but also brings in an unknown third party - the owner of the road.   
 
Problems of this sort tend to not get easier with the passage of time, so very generally speaking addressing early might benefit the current owner / future seller.  
 
While not legal advice, I hope this general information provides some assistance.

Q: We are on Septic, "Will we be able to sell our house?" - drain field is not on our property.