THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409150338
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: About the Outer Banks
SOURCE: Chris Kidder
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Septic tank capacity is a hot topic in the Outer Banks vacation rental business this year, says Dare County Board of Realtors president Tim Cafferty.
It should be. Most houses in the area's 1994 rental brochures advertise occupancies exceeding their septic system capacities by at least two people, often four or more.
Dare health department director Harry Johnson says that septic system permits for private homes are based on an occupancy rate of two people per bedroom. These permits - allowing 60 gallons of wastewater per day per person - dictate the size of the septic tank and the field required for dispersing the wastewater.
When septic systems exceed that capacity week after week, in thousands of houses clustered on fragile barrier islands, you can bet trouble is brewing.
Septic system failures, contaminated groundwater and wells, estuarine pollution, and bacterial contamination of recreational waters are all possible consequences.
``Our available land is limited in its capacity to handle sewage and I don't think any of us want to spoil or defile what we have,'' says Johnson.
``There's a real problem here,'' he says. ``There's no question that we're overusing our septic systems. The question is what can we do about it?''
There are no easy answers. Johnson and other resort community health department officials don't have the resources or the legal means to do much. ``Simply doing a bed check, even if it were possible, would not stand up in court,'' says Johnson.
Discrepancies between septic system capacity and actual usage begin with vacation property buyers who want to maximize income. A three-bedroom house built to sleep six people can sleep 10 if there's a sofabed in the living room and an extra set of bunks in the kids' room.
Until this year, the health department didn't consider projected occupancy; it issued permits based on the number of bedrooms shown on a floor plan. Now Johnson asks whether the houses will be rented and what advertised sleeping capacities will be.
``We still have to take people's word,'' says Johnson. ``We prefer to think most people are honest and want to do the right thing.''
Johnson is getting help from the Dare County Board of Realtors. Cafferty has put the issue of inflated occupancy on the board's agenda and distributed written information to members. Warnings about misrepresentation and omission of material fact apply equally to real estate salespeople and rental agents.
According to Blackwell M. Brogden Jr., chief deputy legal counsel for the N.C. Real Estate Commission, all real estate agents should be informed about use restrictions. ``A licensee who advertises that a property sleeps 16 should be certain that any on-site sewage system is in fact designed to serve at least 16 people.''
``Intentional or negligent misrepresentation of the occupancy design limits of a property served by an on-site sewage disposal system violates the license law and may result in disciplinary action against the licensee,'' says Brogden.
Brogden also believes real estate agents who misrepresent occupancy limits or who encourage overuse of properties may be successfully sued for damages by buyers or renters who suffer related losses.
Johnson, Cafferty and Brogden all believe the answer to septic system overuse lies in education. Cafferty believes he's done his part. ``All I can do is advise our members and let them make their own business decisions,'' he says.
Sun Realty, the largest Outer Banks property management company, sent its rental property owners a letter explaining health department occupancy limits. They also added a line to their 1995 rental contract addendum asking owners to fill in the number of people their properties are ``built and equipped to accommodate.''
Other rental companies are less willing to draw attention to potential problems. One rental manager included an article about occupancy limits in a property owner newsletter but said she wasn't asking owners to verify sleeping capacities. ``We haven't had any septic tank problems, so we've tried to not make it an alarming issue.''
Off the record, real estate agents don't see property owners willing to give up the added rents they earn from inflated occupancies. In fact, the financial equation for owning some investment properties may depend upon those extra beds.
So far, septic system failures have been a ``relatively infrequent'' occurrence here, says Johnson. But when overloaded systems do fail, he closes the property, reduces occupancy or requires upgrades to the system. - all expensive options for property owners.
This past year, those options became mandatory for resort property owners in Brunswick County, which occupies the state's southeast corner. Residents complained that their health department didn't enforce the 60-gallon-per- person septic tank capacity rule. The N.C. Department of Environmental Health & Natural Resources agreed and took remedial action.
Brunswick County real estate agents paid a price, too. Angry property owners sued agents and filed charges of misrepresentation with the real estate commission.
It could happen here. MEMO: Chris Kidder covers Outer Banks real estate for Hampton Roads Real
Estate Weekly. Send comments and questions to her at P.O. Box 10, Nags
Head, N.C. 27959.
by CNB