Opinion ID: 1740168
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: The Sergeants

Text: In February 1994, plaintiffs Laura Sergeant and Stacy Sergeant drove to the Sunchase subdivision to look for a house. They drove to a house with an open house sign. They stopped and went inside the house, where Botsford greeted them. Botsford was wearing a Prudential Cooper badge. Botsford showed the Sergeants several lots and the house on lot 14. The Sergeants were interested in the house on lot 14. Botsford arranged for the Sergeants to meet with the builder for lot 14, Eric Brewer. The next day, the Sergeants, Botsford, and Brewer met at the house on lot 14. They discussed the house plans, the square footage of the house, and the sales price of the house. Laura testified that she and Stacy were shown a piece of paper showing the lot itself and there were two easements present on the lot. One easement was a five-foot utility easement on the front of the property. The second easement was a ten-foot easement in the back that said drainage easement across it. Laura testified that, when she asked Botsford and Brewer the purpose of the drainage easement, either Botsford or Brewer told her that the purpose of the drainage easement was to collect water that drained down our lot from rain to the back of the property rather than keeping it in the yard. And then the same way for all the homes on that side of the street. Laura stated that neither Botsford nor Brewer told her or Stacy that the lot would flood. She stated further that she and Stacy would not have bought the house on lot 14 had they known about the flooding problem. Laura testified that, when their property first flooded in September 1994, she, from the back porch, could hear the water rushing. Laura described the water as extremely swift with white foam, white water, and a sewage smell. The water moved so swiftly that it washed away big stumps. Laura said that, at times, after a rain, she and passersby could smell sewage in front of her home. She said that water extended beyond the easement to within four feet of the corner of her house and that the water was about two feet deep on most occasions. Laura stated that she and her husband wanted to erect a fence around their property. After the September 1994 flood, Laura telephoned Brewer about the flooding and about erecting a fence around her lot. Brewer referred her to Cooper & Company. Laura telephoned Jordan Cooper and asked him about erecting a fence around her property. Cooper told Laura that he would not recommend erecting a fence at that time because [t]hey still hadn't cleared out lot sixteen. There was some kudzu in the back of the lot and ... when they finished building on that property that the problem should be gone. After watching their neighbors' fences rot and wash away during floods, the Sergeants decided not to erect a fence around their property. Laura stated that, after the water from a rain recedes from her backyard, she has noticed dead, smelly fish in her backyard. She has noticed that the dead, smelly fish attract cats to her backyard. Laura has noticed that, after a rain, frogs, too, are attracted to her backyard, where they lay eggs. Because puddles remain in the backyard, it takes days or weeks to dry out, and during this time the frog eggs hatch and grow into tadpoles. The tadpoles live for some time, until the sun dries up the puddles. The tadpoles then die and smell. Laura described the smell of her backyard after a rain as [i]f you have left shrimp or whatever in the garbage can too long it kind of has a real foul odor and it smells like that and the grass smells that way. She further described her backyard as like mush, so that a person cannot walk in the backyard without sinking into the ground. To avoid erosion, the Sergeants spread a load of topsoil in their backyard. Stacy Sergeant staked three railroad crossties with three-foot metal rods along the easement in the Sergeants' backyard. However, water from the easement washed away the railroad crossties. Stacy Sergeant then staked landscaping timbers two-high along the easement. Again, water from the easement washed away several of the landscaping timbers.