Neighbor insisting all dings on the passenger side of her car are my fault.

[hter]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.

My neigbor of a 4 unit appartment building left a note on my appartment door saying that there has been a problem that she has been noticing going on for a while. She claims that the dents and 1 scratch (all pretty minor, i.e. only seen from an angle except the scratch) are my wife's and my fault. There are approxamitly a dozen small dings on the right (passenger's) doors (mostly on the back and a few on the front left door).

We park to the right of her car in a garage and space is narrow. She claims we ding her car when we get out. After talking with my wife we both have not knowingly dinged her car. We both take great care when getting out not to hit the her car. Our neighbor says she will be getting an estimate and expects us to pay for fixes the dents and scratches in the two doors.

We called our insurance agent and asked for advice. The agent said that since there is no witnesses and no proof (no paint is on her car from ours) that our insurance won't be involved unless she can prove otherwise. Her car was used when she bought it and the dents could have already been there. She obviously parks in other places other than the appartment garage so they could have came elsewhere too.

This isn't the first time she has tried to accuse us of property damage. The last time she claimed my tan colored tarus hit her black car's bumper in the dirveway/lot of our appartment complex (I park this car in the lot, the car mentioned above is my wifes).

There was some white stuff on her bumper and some white stuff on my bumper but on the opposing side. The white stuff on my bumper was there from when I bought the used car. There was also a small hole/crack on her bumper. So she thought I hit her car. So she called the police (before even asking me about it). When the police came he said unless she can prove it they can't do anything. The policeman also said the damage on her car didn't appear to come from mine. My neighbor's daughter was also there and she started to rub the white spot on her mom's car and guess what!!! It came off and was just bird poop. The white spot on my car did not come off and was not bird poop.

As you can see it isn't the first time something like this has happened. Regarding the current situation (that of the door dings) I know we aren't the cause and I am looking for some advice in case she tries to sue us.

 

[MandyD]

Let her sue you and make sure you show up to court on the appointed date. She will have to offer up proof even in a small claims court and from your post, she doesn't have it. Don't worry about it.

 

[hter]

More details

Okay some more info,

Last night my wife and I took another look at the neighbors car in the garage. There are relatively few dings on the other side of the car. The dings she is complaining about are all in a localized location and are at the same height in proportion to where my wifes car's door would hit her car (well, it's really a suv). So in other words the dings are at the right height and the right location (i.e. my wife_s divers door is always near the neighbors back and sometimes front right door).

Now my wife is beginning to think that the dings are her fault simply by looking at the number of dings (there are about 12-15 or so), location (they are all within a localized area), and height.

Again, she doesn't remember that she has hit the neighbors doors and figures it must now have happened without her knowledge.

So I have some questions.

1) Since my wife has said she has always been careful getting out (so as not to hit her car) and so does not remember actually doing what we are accused of isn't this just circumstantial? In other words that there is just the mere appearance that it may be us? Again there is no paint transfer just dings and scratches.

2) If we did decide to pay (in other words if my wife insists out of feeling it is the right thing to do, again she hasn't mentioned this to me yet, but incase she may feel this way) what should we do? We haven't been in an accident before and have a perfect driving record minus 1 speeding ticket for each of us in the past 3 years. I don't want this to raise our insurance premiums. But we don't have much money to pay out of pocket. Do we have the right to ask her to get an estimate at our insurance company's shop (or recommended shop) instead of allowing her to go wherever she wants and possibly spend beyond fair market value of the damages? What is the best way to handle this?

3) Again, I don't even know if my wife feels it's her fault or if she is just second guessing herself. She does not remember hitting the car (and for the amount of dents this would have to be 12-15 times). She says she has always been careful. The times I have parked in the garage with her car I know I have not hit her car either. I really don't like the idea of paying for something that I don't know for sure weather we did it. Yes, there appears that there is a chance our car hit hers. Perhaps even a likely chance as mentioned above. But if there isn't any hard proof (or admission of guilt on my wifes part) we still are liable right?

4) Again, if there happens to be an admission of guilt on my wife_s part is she liable even still? If she has always used care getting out and any dents over the YEARS that we have been parking next to her car that have accumulated, wouldn't this just be normal? Especially considering that there is only about 2 or 3 feet between her car an ours in the garage. Wouldn't my wife have to be negligible to be liable?

5) Our neighbor says that she has been noticing this for a while and has been keeping to garage light on so that we can better see when we get out to avoid further hitting her car. First, I don't ever remember seeing the garage light is right on. Neither does my wife (other people in the apartment must have been turning it off before we get home). Another concern of me is lets say we were the ones hitting her car. Why didn't she come to us with the first dent or two? Why wait until there are many and a costly repair to fix them? Why say that "Oh, I right the light on" as if that was her way of letting us know? Why didn't she mention something to us sooner? Again I don't know if we even have been hitting her car. It just seems like she thinks we have money (which we don't) and she wants to get as much out of us as she can. I doubt she will even fix the car if we pay her since the dings are pretty minor to begin with (Can't be seen well from 10-15 feet away).

Isn't she responsible for taking measures to prevent damage from occurring to her car if she sees a situation developing? In other words if she started to notice dings occurring in a localized place on her back right door and assumed they were from us shouldn_t she have mentioned something then? Instead of allowing further damage to occur. According to the way she said things happened (Started noticing dings on her back right door and assumed they were from us so she left the light on, then the dings kept occurring over time and now they are on the front right door, and then she says she is disappointed that we haven_t come to her). It seems to me that she just sat back and allowed this to happen without taking any actions until there are many dings. So even if we did ding her car isn_t she, in part, negligible for not taking actions to prevent damage from occurring?
.
In conclusion, I would like feedback on the 5 above points.

 

[teflon_jones]

You know your wife better than anybody here. Do you think she dinged the other car (even if she doesn't remember doing it)? If the answer is yes, pay for the damages.

Either way, do yourself a favor and go to a local auto parts store to pick up a couple of those little rubber stick-on door protectors and put them on your car.

 

[hter]

Could you (or others) be more specific by responding to each of the 5 points/questions I mentioned.

 

[zippysgoddess]

She has no proof! These dents and the scratch could have been there when she bought the car, they could have happened somewhere else.

You and your wife have no liability unless you know that they are your fault. Otherwise tell her to go pound sand.

Don't pay her a cent, if you accept liability then you are opening a big can of worms. DO NOT DO THAT!

 

[xylene]

Okay some more info,
1) Since my wife has said she has always been careful getting out (so as not to hit her car) and so does not remember actually doing what we are accused of isn't this just circumstantial? In other words that there is just the mere appearance that it may be us? Again there is no paint transfer just dings and scratches.

Isn't what circumstantial? Your wife's recolections are her recollections. Her memory is irrelevant except to aiding your defense. There is not going to be a CSI inquiry BTW.

2) If we did decide to pay (in other words if my wife insists out of feeling it is the right thing to do, again she hasn't mentioned this to me yet, but incase she may feel this way) what should we do? We haven't been in an accident before and have a perfect driving record minus 1 speeding ticket for each of us in the past 3 years. I don't want this to raise our insurance premiums. But we don't have much money to pay out of pocket. Do we have the right to ask her to get an estimate at our insurance company's shop (or recommended shop) instead of allowing her to go wherever she wants and possibly spend beyond fair market value of the damages? What is the best way to handle this?

Why would it raise your insurance premiums if you don't claim it on your insurance. The police are not going to do an investigation. You can ask her do to whatever. The best way to handle this is to not pay until proof is established.

3) Again, I don't even know if my wife feels it's her fault or if she is just second guessing herself. She does not remember hitting the car (and for the amount of dents this would have to be 12-15 times). She says she has always been careful. The times I have parked in the garage with her car I know I have not hit her car either. I really don't like the idea of paying for something that I don't know for sure weather we did it. Yes, there appears that there is a chance our car hit hers. Perhaps even a likely chance as mentioned above. But if there isn't any hard proof (or admission of guilt on my wifes part) we still are liable right?

You are liable if you did it. Your neighbor would sue, and if she doesn't meet the burden of proof than she loses. If you didn't do it than paying is real stupid.

4) Again, if there happens to be an admission of guilt on my wife_s part is she liable even still? If she has always used care getting out and any dents over the YEARS that we have been parking next to her car that have accumulated, wouldn't this just be normal? Especially considering that there is only about 2 or 3 feet between her car an ours in the garage. Wouldn't my wife have to be negligible to be liable?

Care is irrelevant. The damage and who caused it is what matters.

5) Our neighbor says that she has been noticing this for a while and has been keeping to garage light on so that we can better see when we get out to avoid further hitting her car. First, I don't ever remember seeing the garage light is right on. Neither does my wife (other people in the apartment must have been turning it off before we get home). Another concern of me is lets say we were the ones hitting her car. Why didn't she come to us with the first dent or two? Why wait until there are many and a costly repair to fix them? Why say that "Oh, I right the light on" as if that was her way of letting us know? Why didn't she mention something to us sooner? Again I don't know if we even have been hitting her car. It just seems like she thinks we have money (which we don't) and she wants to get as much out of us as she can. I doubt she will even fix the car if we pay her since the dings are pretty minor to begin with (Can't be seen well from 10-15 feet away).

Isn't she responsible for taking measures to prevent damage from occurring to her car if she sees a situation developing? In other words if she started to notice dings occurring in a localized place on her back right door and assumed they were from us shouldn_t she have mentioned something then? Instead of allowing further damage to occur. According to the way she said things happened (Started noticing dings on her back right door and assumed they were from us so she left the light on, then the dings kept occurring over time and now they are on the front right door, and then she says she is disappointed that we haven_t come to her). It seems to me that she just sat back and allowed this to happen without taking any actions until there are many dings. So even if we did ding her car isn_t she, in part, negligible for not taking actions to prevent damage from occurring?
.
In conclusion, I would like feedback on the 5 above points.

Inconclusion you have thought WAY too much into this and just let it go. If she sues she will lose without proof.

If you pay her have fun paying for every ding on her car.

 

[JSAautomotive]

One of my pet peeves these days is how parking spaces are made. They have become way to tight in many instances to the average car width/size.

I own a prostreet 69 camaro that I've got some $100K invested it.

http://hometown.aol.com/jsaautomotive/index.html

I took it to starbucks a couple of years ago to get some coffee after one of the "cruise nights" here in Los Angeles. I go in for something like 10 minutes. When I come out, there's a nice dent with a paint chip in my door. I was pissed!! The BMW parked next to me had my white paint on it and I wanted to kill the person.

I waited for the people to come back to their car, they were in the Teriyaki fast food place. I confronted the passenger about the dent and showed her what happened. She and her friend weren't the brightest bulbs in the box and said "so what.... it's such a small dent....what do you want me to do about it". Now if you saw my car on my webpage, you can see it's basically a show car. Costed about 3 times what the POS Beemer costed to build. So they told me to go pound sand and I took her licence plate number and reported her as a "hit and run". LOL!! I was happy to hear that the police went to visit her and got her insurance info for me.

But my point after this whole diatribe about cars and what dents mean is all in the beholder of the car. My car is a classic, the BMW is a cookie cutter POS in my opinion.

I contacted the owner of the shopping center and told him what happened and basically why. The parking spots were way too narrow for the average person to get out of their car and not lay their door against the car next to them. He told me the same thing, "what do you want me to do about it". I filed suit against him in small claims. When he got the lawsuit, he called me. "What are you suing me for", he asked? I told him that his additude was crappy and that he didn't care about how the lines were painted regarding his mini-mall. And that the damage to my car was un-avoidable because of the lines were painted. He asked me what he I wanted him to do? I told him repaint the lines in the lot and we'll be square.

A week later... the whole lot was repainted with those double white lines to provide at least another 1.5 feet on each side of each parking spot.