Neigbor's water drainage and my flooded crawl space

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

Our crawl space flooded during the recent heavy rains in Atlanta. The sump pump and French drain could not keep up with the flow of water. We are likely facing a big, expensive cleanup and repair or replacement of furnace/AC that was in the crawlspace. When this occurred, we were shocked to see that our neighbor's drainage system was gushing water directly at our house. Water was literally pooled up against our house and going directly into the crawl space. We actually took pictures of the water coming out of her drainage pipes. Our houses are extremely close together. The affected side of our house has only a few feet of land that is our before reaching the boundary of her property (we live in cluster homes that are located in close proximity).

Our neighbor was very defensive about this. We asked why her drainage lines didn't run to the street or further down her yard and she said it was a very expensive system and could not be run a long distance.

I am wondering if this is a situation where we might have a civil case due to her routing her water on to our property.

Potentially, yes.

Here's a good review of the various approaches. As a general matter, one can't route water on to your neighbor's property in an "unreasonable" manner, although some states may be more permissive.

http://law.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=expresso

If you could show it was unreasonable for her to discharge her water right up to your foundation a court might find for you. You might also consult with your insurance company, with the idea being that your neighbor inflicted damage on your house, rather than this being "natural" flooding.

your flood insurance will cover this

call them, report back

John Se said:

call them, report back

Click to expand...

1. this person has to have flood insurance

and

2. flood does not cover any property under grade. ie. bacements or crawlspaces.

Sorry. ground floor and above.

And HO ins. will not cover flood damage, whic is what this is. Sorry again.

I'm new here, I just happen to know that.

Say someone sticks a hose into your basement window as a prank. Is that not covered because it's a "flood"? I'm not so sure. Based on the description, this isn't too far off from that, so might still be covered. It's not as if this was a purely natural flood.

Of course, insurance will probably tell them it was entirely natural, but it's probably worth a call.

I agree with Rodriguez. FEMA does not pay for a flood anywhere below ground level. And of course you would have to have flood insurance to even ask if it were covered or not, and this homeowner lives in Atlanta. I have no idea how many people would think they need flood insurance. My bet is poster does not.

As soon as that storm water that was running from the neighbors home hit the floor it was flood waters. As soon as _whatever_ water hits the ground its flood water. Very simple really.

I doubt Flood would pay for it. C'mon its the government were talking about. Just alittle harder to work with then the insurance company's.