Am I right?? NC

[tekylla]

What is the name of your state?
NC

I am a military member and live in NC. I went on emergency leave and my 'friend' said she would stay in my house and watch my 2 dogs while I was gone. I told her to baby gate them in the kitchen while she was at work. Other than that she needed to feed them and let them out. They are over 4 years old and fully house broken..never had any problems before. While on leave (18 days) I talked to her 3 or 4 times. She informed me that they were jumping over the baby gates, I told her to keep the gates up but if it became a prob to put them in the master bathroom. I repeatedly asked if I needed to find someone else, if everything was ok..she said yes, don't worry about it.
I got home and I was in tears, before I even walked into the house I could smell it. My living room was full on dog urine and feces also my sofas. I stayed up till 6 in the morning cleaning, had it professionally steamed, the next day it was so bad still I had to pull up the carpet (home built in 2003, like new berber carpeting!) also had to throw away the sofas. Friend says she was there everyday but neighbor only saw car once or twice a week. Urine was all the way to the wood subflooring. Had to treat and reseal! Friend says...so sorry, didn't know. If she was there how didn't she know? Now saying 'well it wasn't my dogs that did it' ?????? Am I wrong to want help finacially from her? She assumed responsibility when she agreed to watch the house and dogs. I even left money...She could have said to find someone else!! She agreed over the phone to $500 which I was fine with cause i just want it all over with. Trying to get it in writing but now she wants pictures and bills. I think I should stop being nice and take her to small claims court....what do you think?

 

[dcatz]

what do you think?

I don't ever think it's a good idea to go to court, if it can be avoided.

Was your friend paid to do this, or was it a favor?

I even left money

Why?

She agreed over the phone to $500 which I was fine with cause i just want it all over with. Trying to get it in writing but now she wants pictures and bills.

Will the bills equal or exceed $500? If so, why not give them to her and see if she pays? (You're going to have to produce them and use them as evidence in court anyway.)

 

[tekylla]

I left $100 for anything she might have needed. Simply stating she could have taken that money and put them in a kennel or something....anything but what she did do. Yes, it was a favor..but when you have someone dying in your family and your friend says 'go, i'll take care of it' you would think she is taking the responsibility. I also gave hor $50 to pick me up at the airport.

The floor cost $1100 materials and labor, the new sofas $1600. Because the sofas were 5 years old I left them out of the equation. She doesn't want to just see the pictures..she was at the house. She wants copies for her to take to legal, that makes it clear to me that she no longer has the intention of handling this on the side.

She has addmitted to at least 1/2 responsibility and I have that in emails from her.

 

[dcatz]

that makes it clear to me that she no longer has the intention of handling this on the side.

Then it would appear that you’ve determined a course of action.

She rendered services gratuitously and strictly for your benefit but, in volunteering to do so, she assumed a minimal level of responsibility for the safekeeping of your property. That she violated that duty of care and that the resulting damages were a direct and reasonably foreseeable result of the violation are what you’re going to have to convince a court.

In that regard, it would be useful to work out some of the more ambiguous and subjective aspects of what went on. By that I mean saying she should have used money to put the dogs in a kennel, when she was told to put them in the master bathroom, “if there was a problem”. She wasn’t there full-time and you knew they were jumping the gate and asked about getting someone else, but how practical was that when you were traveling on emergency leave? Things like that.

I sympathize with what happened, but you’ll both have different stories to tell in court, and you should prepare for that, if that’s where you’re headed. I hope that you find a way to work it out without actually ending up there.