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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Posts
    1

    Default Can Your Neighbor Turn Off Your Water From a Shared Well

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: South Carolina

    I hope I am posting in the right place.
    My grandmother passed away and left her land and two mobile homes (which one my uncle lives in) to my mother in her will.

    The other mobile home has been vacant for years so my mom offered it to me and my children. We moved in and my Uncle verbally told me I need to pay him $60 a month because it is a shared well and the cost of us living there causes his electric bill to go up. Claims the generator....

    I have been paying him for over a year. He hasnt been very pleasant and the few times I paid him "late" (he said due date is the 1st) he cut our water off. Leaving my kids and pets without water until I go to ATM to get his cash.

    Well, I have paid over $800 in a year. On July 2nd, my mom calls me saying my Uncle called her flipping out because I didnt pay him. I had cash on me and immediately sent my daughter over to pay. He refused. Then I sent her back over with $120 to go ahead and pay the next month. He refused.

    I went over to speak with him and he was a compete jerk. He said "get your own well, I dont care if you dont have the money" and "you can move in with your mama".
    I told him I'd get a lawyer, he said I need one.


    So here I am. I need advice.
    This man has never worked, he lived off of my grandmother and now my mom lets him stay in the home and use the land she now legally owns. My mom is not depending me in this at all. She wants to stay out of it.

    I am a single mom and it took me over a year to fix this place up and I have spent $10K doing so. There is nothing in writing. My mom gave me this home knowing I could be rent free.

    Also, he comes in my yard, acts as if everything is his. He cut down a tree in my driveway a few days ago. Im at my wits end!!

    So what is the first step, what do I need to do?? I am afraid he is going to cut my water off August 1st!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    7,056

    Default Re: Shared Well- Can Neighbor Cut Off My Water when Neither of Us Own the Land

    It's not clear as to who owns the well. If your mother owns the well, then she would be able to decide who pays what. So can you clarify who owns the well and who pays the electricity bill on the well? $800 seems high for a water bill.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Shared Well- Can Neighbor Cut Off My Water when Neither of Us Own the Land

    Quote Quoting budwad
    View Post
    It's not clear as to who owns the well. If your mother owns the well, then she would be able to decide who pays what. So can you clarify who owns the well and who pays the electricity bill on the well? $800 seems high for a water bill.
    It was 800.00 in a year. That is not high at all. Mine is at least 4 times that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Posts
    672

    Default Re: Shared Well- Can Neighbor Cut Off My Water when Neither of Us Own the Land

    But if it's a well, it isn't a "water bill" is it? Municipal water bills vary wildly, anyway. Mine on one house is $10-15 monthly, but nearby seem to be closer to $60 for the same size house and family. If his claims that the electricity needed to "run" the well exceeds $60 a month I am surprised. When my well was disconnected (2 months) for repairs, the electric bill remained substantially the same. What does "Claims the generator.... " mean?

    So please clarify, are you also using electricity in his name?

    Is the mobile home in your name? Is Uncle's? Or are you also just living there with permission, as is Uncle?

    If you intend to pursue legal remedies, then I imagine Mom WILL be involved, as the property owner. If she wants to stay out of it, then she has to decide who has access to what, and how this can be resolved.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    47.606 N 122.332 W in body, still at 90 S in my mind.
    Posts
    1,678

    Default Re: Shared Well- Can Neighbor Cut Off My Water when Neither of Us Own the Land

    AS it's your mother's property I would expect that the well is hers as well along with the water rights as they are generally attached to the property. What this means is that your mother can override your uncle and even remove him.

    She will likely have to get involved.

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