Septic too small. No land to modify.

Guys,

I'm in a little bit of predicament and need some advice on direction from here.

Selling my 3 bedroom house on .5 acres. Septic permit shows a system sized for 2 bedrooms. Had health inspector and representative from a local septic company come and investigate. They verified that the system is in fact too small. They cannot extend the drain field because it runs right up next to my foundation. There is not enough land for a new system according to the health inspector.

I was told my options are to sell as a 2 bedroom home and take the loss or get an easement on neighboring property. Neighboring property is timber land owned by a big corp and they will not grant easement.

Has anyone run into this problem before?

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additional info that might help:
Septic was installed in '80 when there was a mobile home on the property. The home was then built in '90 and tied into the system. Somehow this slipped though the cracks. I purchased in 2006 and was a first time homeowner and did not know to pull septic permit..and my agent didn't mention it. Is there any legal ground I may be standing on to recoup any of this loss?

I really sympathize with you having to work with City Hall. It's not a win situation for you.

There are a number of new types of drain fields that may not need as much real estate as your old system. If they can come in and pull the old tank, replace it with a bigger one, then install some new accepted (key word "accepted") style of drain field, problem solved.

What you need to do is have a septic system designed by a septic engineer. They don't come cheep but they will be able to help.

John