Neighbors roof is causing my house to rot

[wetinsc]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? South Carolina

Last year I purchased one half of a duplex (townhouse). There was a leak from the back porch roof which was repaired before I moved in. The housing inspector said the roof was in good condition.

After moving in the roof started leaking again. I had three roofing companies come out and the problem is actually coming from my neighbors (adjoining) roof. It turns out a prior owner of their townhouse added a second story addition (without a permit). The duplexes are both 2 story, theirs has an addition which creates an almost "V" shaped valley into my roofline.The design of the roof created a deep valley that routes all the rainwater to my house. It has lifted the shingles on the corner of my house and allowed water to enter into the soffits which are now rotted. In addition, the water comes so hard onto my porch roof it has caused it to rot and leak.

All three roofers stated that they could 'fix' my roof but without the neighbors fixing the problem causing it, the rot and leaking would just keep coming back. The estimated cost to repair/replace my porch roof and the neighbors valley is 3,000.

My question is how can I make them alter/repair their roofline so that my house is protected from the water. Do I have a right to ask for the repairs to my house be paid by them or their homeowners policy? Should I call the city permit or zoning office and have them come look since there was never a permit filed for the addition? (the current homeowners didn't do the addition, it was there when they bought the house). The bottom line is the neighbor wants me to pay for all the repairs, to my house and theirs. Their view is that the water is ruining my house, not theirs so why should they pay.. I really don't know what to do and any help would be greatly appreciated.

I learned later that inspectors don't have to climb on the roof and really inspect it so I feel that I'm now stuck with a house that will be forever rotting unless I pay to repair/alter my neighbors roof.

 

[154NH773]

Many will probably disagree; and I'm not advising anything on a legal basis, but you would probably be better off by paying for the entire repair and forgetting about it.
You have to live with the neighbor, and trying to force them into paying, when they don't want to, will only cause long term problems.

 

[John_DFW]

Do you have an HOA?

Send the neighbor a crr letter informing them that their un-permitted addition is causing damage to your property and request that they make the necessary repairs.

Notifying the building inspector of the addition may cause them to pay a fine and permit, or it may require them to demolish the addition. Either one may not fix the roof problem.

If that fails, make the repairs and take them to small claims court to recover the money.

You already have a neighbor that is a long term problem.

 

[wetinsc]

There is no HOA. These neighbors have turned out to be nightmare neighbors. 3,000 is alot of money to me, money that could be used for other projects in my home. I feel that if I foot the bill for their issue on this, they will come to expect it for everything else.

It's a long story, but they have already had issues with me bringing in two load of dirt to level the yard after a hurricane caused down trees and the root rot cause slight sinkholes. They wanted me to pay for them to get dirt too since I was doing it. Then when I installed a new fence, they followed the contractor around my house all day (I was at work) trying to tell him how to do his job, and trying to get him to move the line of where he was to install it. In a nutshell, they are probably the worst neighbors I could have ended up with, and no one on the block speaks to them.

 

[csi7]

I would have the zone department come out to check the roof situation, especially since the work was done without a permit.
The property appraiser's office would be another place to go to, as well. The homeowners should be paying taxes on the full value of their improved home.

 

[FarmerJ]

And any repair you have done I would say to ask the contractor if there is any kind of barrier that can be put up that would forcibly direct water /block from their part of the house away from your part of the roof ?