This article outlines an interesting requirement that the Tacoma city council passed that will take place in October of this year. In short, before any home can be sold or undergo significant remodeling, their must be an inspection of the sewer lines.

The reason is outlined in this article from last week, and basically states that older private sewer systems are allowing rainwater to get into their lines (probably due to degradation). As a result, the public sewer treatment systems get overloaded and can cause raw or almost-raw sewage to seep into the streets and sometimes directly into commencement bay.

The natural consequence of this requirement is that that home sales will suffer. Obviously, this is because in the current market buyers have most of the leverage. If a seller finds there is a problem in the sewer line, he may have to repair it (likely a very costly endeavor), or may have to reduce the price on the home significantly. Worst of all, the seller may simply lose the sale altogether.

The real question is why now? Does the City of data that shows this is an urgent need? While we are all sensitive to environmental concerns, I would hope that the government is trying to also be sensitive to their constituency. Given the current housing climate, significant requirements placed on home sales ought to be reserved until more robust times.