by Chris Conte
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.- A homeowner in Murfreesboro is trying to figure out who
was responsible for a clerical error that has now left her responsible for
hooking her house up to the city's sewer system after her septic tank failed
two weeks ago.
"If I would've known that this house had a septic tank I would have
never bought the home," said Cindy Baker standing in her dug up backyard
on Saturday.
All of the paperwork she has indicates Cindy's house on Cypress Drive is
supposed to be hooked up to Murfreesboro's water and sewer system, but it is
not. She only discovered the mistake two weeks ago when her sewage backed up
into her house.
Currently, the 52-year-old cannot use any of her bathrooms or even wash her
dishes.
"I was really surprised because we're supposed to have city sewer. That's
why we called the water department out here to fix it, but they couldn't,"
she explained.
Because of the failed septic tank, city code mandates Cindy now hook her
house up to the city's sewer which in the end will cost upwards of $8,000, and
that's money Cindy says she simply doesn't have.
"I don't understand it," she added.
Cindy doesn't think the error was intentional, but she is still trying to determine
how inspectors and assessors, who looked at her house when she bought it,
didn't realize there was a septic tank out back.
