9 Investigates

'It’s upsetting -- a brand new home’: Clover couple sues over flooding issues

CLOVER, S.C. — A Clover couple is suing their homeowner’s association and the company that sold them their house, over flooding issues.

Rodney Robinson and his wife bought the brand new home in 2016.

“About six weeks after that was the first real bad storm," Robinson told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke. "We had stormwater basically up to the back door.”

He said crews came out several times over the years, working to fix the problem. For example, he said they built a hill to divert water and dug out part of the yard so water would run away from the house.

But Robinson said nothing solved the flooding issue -- and now he and his wife are suing.

They said the drainage pipes don’t work well and claim the house was supposed to sit higher. They said York County approved that plan but that no one followed it. They also claim that a ditch, or swale, drains water into their yard and that, according to the original county documents, it was supposed to be in a different spot.

“It’s upsetting," Robinson said. "A brand new home. Brand new.”

The Robinsons were initially suing York County, their HOA, and the company that sold them the house. They eventually decided to drop the county from the lawsuit.

The company that sold them the house, Eastwood Homes, said the following:

  • The developer followed the rules and the county signed off on it
  • The covenants for the community only gave a small maintenance easement to get to the swale and should have given more
  • The HOA owns the swale area
  • Eastwood Homes has continually pressed the county for a solution

The HOA told Action 9 it cannot comment publicly while the lawsuit is going on.