Other person's property causes us damage.

[jodileja]

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

We live in a neighborhood association. One of our "neighbors" is a common area that all association residents have access to. We border one whole side and 3 other homes border the opposite side. The "front" border is the road and the "back" border is a lake. The 3 homes on the other side of the common area are all at a grade of about 3 feet higher than the common area. So, all their water from either rain or sprinklers drains down into the common area. However, the common area slopes down toward our yard. We have been dealing with all this extra water for 12 years now. This past weekend, the storm we had washed out our side yard and beach. What responsibility does the association have is correcting this problem so that we don't keep getting everyone's extra run off?!! We are extremely frustrated b/c over the years we have invested $20k + to repairs and preventative measures.

 

[tranquility]

No one can really tell without looking at the situation. Rules regarding run-off are easy to state, but hard to apply.

I believe Michigan is a Civil Law or Natural Flow state. (Although there seem lots of more local laws [city/county] which could apply.

Wikipedia has the definition:

The Civil Law Rule

The civil law rule (so named because it is derived from the civil law systems of France and Spain) is effectively the opposite of the common enemy doctrine. It holds that the owner of a lower parcel of land must accept the natural drainage from those parcels above his, and cannot alter the drainage pattern of his own land to increase the drainage flow onto parcels lower than his own. For this reason, this rule is sometimes referred to as the "natural flow rule".

Application of the civil law rule in its purest form would inhibit the development of land, since virtually every improvement on a parcel would alter the natural drainage. For this reason, this rule has been modified in those jurisdictions that use it, to permit reasonable changes in natural flow, often weighing the competing interests of neighboring landholders with the benefit of the development of the parcel.

This would certainly seem to give you an advantage in claiming damages. But, again, water has to go somewhere and you would have to prove they changed the natural flow to your detriment. The time line after the changes (12 years?!) might cause a problem with statutes of limitation or repose.

Best would be to work it out with the organization or to see a land use attorney. Litigation will be expensive and require experts.

 

[HomeGuru]

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

We live in a neighborhood association. One of our "neighbors" is a common area that all association residents have access to. We border one whole side and 3 other homes border the opposite side. The "front" border is the road and the "back" border is a lake. The 3 homes on the other side of the common area are all at a grade of about 3 feet higher than the common area. So, all their water from either rain or sprinklers drains down into the common area. However, the common area slopes down toward our yard. We have been dealing with all this extra water for 12 years now. This past weekend, the storm we had washed out our side yard and beach. What responsibility does the association have is correcting this problem so that we don't keep getting everyone's extra run off?!! We are extremely frustrated b/c over the years we have invested $20k + to repairs and preventative measures.

**A: is your property governed by a HOA with CC&R's? If so, you need to put the HOA on notice to fix the problem.