I-Team: Thousands Of Massachusetts Residents Live On Private Roads And Don't Know It

BOSTON (CBS) - For the past few years, Joe Lasick of Millbury has watched in frustration as the pothole on his street has grown from a divot into a crater. "It's bad. It's getting worse," he said. Cars are now driving up on lawns to avoid the hole.

In a situation like this, most homeowners would place a call to the local DPW and that's exactly what Joe did. "That's when the town told me, 'It's a private road. We're not fixing it,'" he said.

Luigi Tella lives a few doors down and he also called the town, "I tell them it's a nightmare; it's dangerous," he said recalling his conversation with town leaders. As a resident of Draper Road for more than 40 years, he was stunned when he too was told he lived on a private road. "I was blindsided," he said.

The Millbury residents learned that even though the town did some maintenance over the years, their bumpy road was never accepted by the town, meaning it has no responsibility to repair it.

The I-Team has learned there are thousands of similar roads all over Massachusetts.

According to Franklin DPW director, Brutus Cantoreggi, it's not that towns don't want to take care of worn out roads, it's that they can't . "It's against the law," he explained. "I cannot spend public funds through appropriation on a private way that hasn't been accepted by the town."

Before you think "This could never happen to me" consider just how common this issue is. The I-Team found nearly half, or 321 of the roads in Medford are unaccepted, Framingham has 131, Winchester 136 and according to Cantoreggi, 20% of his roads are unaccepted.

We asked Cantoreggi if homeowners have any knowledge of this issue. "No, they do not," he told us.

That's what we found when we ran into Carol Benham, who has lived on Baron Road in Franklin for 16 years. "That just blows my mind," she said when we told her that she was living on an unaccepted road.

This issue can go back decades, when developers built new homes but never got the roads accepted by the town.

Some towns are now tackling the complicated process of taking over streets obviously meant for the public, including one street in Billerica that runs right through the center of town.

In the meantime, residents remain on the hook for repairs. And for the five homeowners on Draper Road in Millbury, the bill could be $50,000 or more.

"We are all working class people living paycheck to paycheck," Joe Lasick said. "None of us have that kind of money."

Luigi believes this information should be available to anyone buying a home so there are no surprises down the road. He urges people to check with a town clerk before buying any property. "Get a certified letter from the town. If not, go to New Hampshire," he warned.

Technically, towns shouldn't be plowing unaccepted roads unless the community adopts a certain section of Massachusetts law. Some do anyway, but if budgets get tight, they could stop at any time.