Or, money may have to be kept in escrow. Sometimes, insurance can be purchased to address some of this risk. The purpose of this article is not to cover every possible resolution to address this issue. The point is to simply red flag the issue so that purchasers make sure that it is fully addressed to the satisfaction of their attorney. On the other hand, and this is also very important, uncertainty about previous buried oil tanks should not kill any deal.
Uncertainties require creative responses by motivated buyers, sellers and their lawyers.
A lawyer who simply tells you to just walk away because an uncertainty arises is not doing his or her job. Insist on creative solutions. If everyone is result oriented, everyone can still get what they want and the oil tank issue can be properly and adequately resolved. He was the New Jersey Deputy Attorney General assigned to the State Department of Environmental Protection from 1986 - 1990. Written by Stuart Lieberman Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.