When most homes in the Ojai Valley Sanitary District are sold, the sale comes with a required certificate covering the sewer pipe that runs from the house to the street. That pipe is the privately owned sewer lateral. Before closing, either party can get the certificate, and buyer and seller decide between themselves who does. After closing, the ordinance puts it on the new owner alone. In Ojai, a sewer video is part of the escrow negotiation, much like a termite report or a roof inspection. And because the district has been under real financial pressure this year, sellers have good reason to treat the requirement as firm.
The rule comes from Ojai Valley Sanitary District Ordinance 78. It was adopted on Sept. 28, 2015 and became enforceable on Dec. 1, 2015. It's still on the books today. The district's code, updated through Ordinance OVSD-87 on Aug. 7, 2026, still has the section on privately owned sewer laterals.
The Certificate Belongs to Whoever Owns the House When the Clock Runs Out
A covered title transfer needs either a compliance certificate or a conditional compliance certificate. Before closing, the seller or the buyer can get it, depending on what they negotiate. After closing, the buyer alone is responsible. A time extension certificate pushes that deadline back 180 days from the date the district issues it.
That 180 days is a grace period, and the work still has to get done. If a buyer takes on the certificate after closing, any repair the video turns up is the buyer's to pay for. The district's PSL page says that if the inspection shows a lateral that is "damaged, cracked, or penetrated by tree roots," the homeowner is responsible for the repair. The ordinance also puts maintenance, repair and replacement costs on the parcel owner.
The district lays out the process:
- Submit the PSL application and payment through the district. Both have to be done by the day before the scheduled inspection, or the appointment is canceled.
- Pay the district's inspection fee, listed at $75 per parcel for fiscal year 2026-27.
- Hire a licensed plumber to run a CCTV camera through the lateral, and give the district 24 hours' notice so its representative can be there.
- Keep the timing in mind. The recording is valid for six months, so a video shot too early in a slow listing can expire before closing.
- If the video shows problems, the owner gets the lateral repaired before a full certificate is issued.
The district's fees are listed on its schedule, which also shows a separate $75 application and letter fee. The plumber's video and any repair are priced by the market, and the district itself says, "Plumbers in the Ojai Valley and Ventura County can bid vastly different from each other." It recommends getting several bids, for both the inspection and any repair. That spread is why the certificate is worth sorting out early in a negotiation. Neither side can know the cost of a repair until the camera has been through the pipe.
Which Transfers Skip the Requirement
Ordinance 78 defines "Title Transfer" narrowly, and several common ways property changes hands don't count as one.
| Type of transfer | Counts as a Title Transfer under Ordinance 78? |
|---|---|
| Sale of the entire property or fee interest | Yes |
| Sale of a partial interest such as a leasehold | No |
| Fiduciary transfer to an heir while administering an estate, guardianship, conservatorship or trust | No |
| Co-owner to co-owner, or into or out of a revocable trust for the grantor's benefit | No |
| Trustor funding an inter vivos trust | No |
| Transfer to a spouse, registered domestic partner, or lineal relative | No |
| Owner to a lender through foreclosure or a similar process | No |
| Lender to a new owner after foreclosure | Yes |
The last row matters most to buyers. A home bought from a lender after foreclosure is a covered transfer, even though the foreclosure that put the property in the lender's hands was not. The exemptions in the table cover only the sale trigger, too. A property that passes to an heir without a certificate can still need one later, because the ordinance has other triggers.
Why the District Holds the Line in 2026
The certificate program makes more sense against what has happened to the district's budget. The district scheduled its public hearing on the new rate for June 15, 2026. At that meeting, the seven-member board voted unanimously to raise the sewer rate to $82.26 per month per service unit, effective July 1. That is up from $64.14 and amounts to a 28.25% increase, as the Ojai Valley News reported. According to the same report, the rate held at $58.73 for four years, rose to $61.67 in fiscal 2024-25 and to $64.14 in fiscal 2025-26.
The Ojai Valley News quoted OVSD General Manager Scott Meckstroth's explanation at the meeting:
"And we have aging infrastructure. The majority of the infrastructure … in our collection system was installed in the '50s and the '60s. It has a limited life expectancy."
According to the same Ojai Valley News report, the storms of January 2023 and January 2024 damaged sewer mains on Creek Road and along the Ventura River. The breaks spilled 14 million gallons of untreated sewage into the river and San Antonio Creek, and repairs cost the district about $5.2 million. At the June meeting, board member Lowell Martinson said FEMA had reimbursed about $1 million of that. Board member Stephen Quilici told the meeting that the district was "in jeopardy of having a $10 million fine" from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. The agenda for the district's Sept. 28 meeting, as covered by the Ojai Valley News, included a closed session on anticipated litigation over administrative civil liability tied to the 2023 overflows. That report did not include a final amount or resolution.
Private laterals tie into the same pressures. The district says finding and fixing damaged laterals keeps extra water out of the system and helps it meet EPA and state rules, adopted in 2013, that require it to sharply reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus leaving its treatment plant for the Ventura River. A cracked lateral lets groundwater into the system, and the district has to carry and treat that water. That explains why the district described the inspection as something that "will become an automatic step in the sale of a property."
The Same Certificate Comes Back When You Build
Buyers who plan to remodel or add a unit will run into the ordinance again. A certificate is also required for a permitted remodel valued over $25,000, certain changes of use, added structures that bring extra service or capacity units, a public health or safety concern the district identifies, the expiration of a conditional certificate, and any repair, replacement or extension of the lateral. The district's summary adds a sewage spill or similar event to that list.
An accessory dwelling unit adds costs of its own. According to the district's ADU page, an ADU has to be permitted to connect and owes its own sewer service fee. Capacity charges apply unless it qualifies for a listed exemption, and where they apply, the fee is scaled to the ADU's drainage fixture units relative to 25. In the fiscal 2026-27 schedule, a full capacity unit totals $16,498.82, counting the treatment plant, trunk sewer and local sewer charges plus the $475 will-serve, permit, plan check and inspection fee. The district says an ADU's separate sewer service fee is generally collected on the parcel's property tax bill.
So a buyer who plans to add a unit faces the lateral twice, once to close and again to build. Getting a full compliance certificate at purchase makes the later permit process simpler.
Not Every Ojai Address Is in the Program
Ordinance 78 covers only properties connected to the district's sewer. The district says many properties in the Arbolada, Siete Robles and Casitas Springs still use septic systems, so being in the valley doesn't mean a home is on the sewer. Two listings a few streets apart can come with different requirements, and the district's office, at (805) 646-5548, takes questions about the program. Connecting a septic property is a larger project. The fee schedule lists an estimated annexation deposit of $9,800 where annexation applies, on top of capacity charges.
FAQ
Can a seller order the video before listing?
Yes. Since the recording is valid for six months, a video shot right before listing gives the seller a known condition to disclose and price around, as long as the home goes under contract within that window.
What if escrow is short and the repair isn't finished?
The ordinance provides a conditional compliance certificate and a 180-day time extension certificate for title transfers. After closing, though, the transferee alone is responsible for the final certificate.
Will the sewer rate go up again?
The district's posted schedule covers fiscal 2026-27 at $82.26 per service unit per month. No later schedule has been published.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how Ordinance 78 applies to your property with the district, your escrow officer and the right professionals.
Thinking about selling in Ojai? Find out where you stand on the lateral before the price is set. Toni Guy can help you plan the inspection and the escrow terms around it. Start with Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
