Q: I'm ready to call an attorney but I thought I'd ask you about this first.

I just bought a piece of land. It wasn't until after closing, when I went in for my building permit, that I found out the bad news. The private roadway that leads to the property is not where it's supposed to be! To get a building permit I have to bring it up to what they call "County Standards" which will cost about $20,000 and I have to move the road. Now the owners of the other homes on that road are upset because the new road will cut through what they thought was their land and the bids to do the work are all over $50,000! The seller didn't disclose this to me. I want to sue the seller.

A: The most important issue here is whether the seller knew about the road before selling to you. If so, and he failed to disclose it, you may have a case. That's for an attorney to find out. However, there is another issue that requires you to take some responsibility. In the standard purchase and sales agreement used for undeveloped land, there is a feasibility period for the buyer. If you go back and read the agreement you'll notice that among the things that the form recommends you do research on are: title issues, surveys, geotechnical studies, neighborhood review, potential county fees, cost of development, wetlands and sensitive areas, roads, utility charges and other items.

It is your responsiblity to do your own "due diligence" to find out the costs associated with development and to discover whether the property will fit your needs and your budget.

Unless you can prove that the seller knew that the road was not in its proper location and chose not to tell you about it, you may not have a case. From the reaction of the neighbors, I would guess that no one knew about the road. It's common here to find that roads were built without surveys and ended up in the easiest spot to develop.