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What is my liability?

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mdsiamese

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Maryland

I recently had a contractor install a concrete patio in my back yard. This contractor was recommended by my neighbor, Jack. The contractor did some damage to my and Jack's property and to the common area, I will describe it below. The contractor also damaged the grass in my yard but I'm not freaking out about that, it's not that big a deal to me to have perfect grass. I know that I can repair it with seed next spring.

The damage is in two parts. Part a - when the workers were preparing the area prior to pouring concrete, they used a weed whacker. I was in the house and heard them working, but was unaware of anything else because I was in the front of the house. Jack says that while they were weed whacking, something hit the pane of glass on his French door and cracked it. We are in adjacent townhouses with no fence between, so Jack's door is about two feet from my house. According to Jack, whatever struck his door set off his house alarm and started a spider crack that he could hear. He says it took 45 minutes to fully complete the whole web of cracks. Jack theorizes that the weed whacker kicked up a small rock or some other small projectile that struck the glass. The start of the spider web was low on the glass consistent with coming from a weed whacker, at least that is what it looks like to me. The workers say they did not crack the glass, that it was cracked when they started although there are no photos to show this, it is just their word against Jack's. The contractor does not want to pay for the door, he believes his workers that they did not crack the glass. He told me he does have insurance for these things, but he believes Jack is scamming him to get him to pay for something that was already broken. Jack is ready to sue the contractor for the approximately $2200 cost to replace the door if the contractor does not pay.

Part b - when the cement truck came through to pour cement, the contractor brought it over a curb through a common area, and the truck cut through Jack's yard. I was not present this day and did not give the contractor to cut through Jack's yard. The truck left deep tracks of damage in Jack's yard, and a smaller gash of damage near the curb in the common area. There is also damage in my yard. The contractor's method of fixing the damage was to put down sod in Jack's yard. He did not fix the common area damage. Nobody watered the sod, so it promptly died. Jack says it was not his responsibility to water the sod. The contractor says Jack should have watered the sod. The sod is now dead. The HOA expressed discontent to me about the gash in the common area. I asked, in a phone call, the contractor to pull up the sod and put down top soil and seed in the common area and Jack's yard, he said he would. When I asked when he planned to do this so that I could be present (in a text), he stopped responding. I haven't heard from him for 3 days. I have a lawncare person coming tomorrow to give me an estimate on repairing the damage to Jack's yard and the common area, and also fixing my yard and doing some other work in my yard. It will probably be several hundred dollars for labor and supplies.

Jack told me he is ready to sue the contractor if he is not paid for the door. Fortunately, he is not blaming me for the contractor's actions. However, I do feel horrible about all of this. I have had some serious anxiety over getting this damage resolved. I don't want the guy whose house is next to mine, sharing a wall, to be upset with me. I don't want my HOA upset with me. But I also do not want to have to pay for damage the contractor did.

I have not yet paid the contractor, and we do not have a written contract (please do not chastise me about that, I have lost significant sleep over this and yes, I have learned my lesson and will not let it happen again, my defense is that Jack recommended this contractor and he worked Jack's home and another next to me without incident so I lost my mind and trusted him, temporary insanity is my defense).

I have every intention of paying the contractor what I owe him, I even had a certified check prepared before he started the work and have it ready to give him. I do not have a bill from him yet, so we are not to the point where I am withholding payment and I hope not to get to that point. I do not want to "get out" of paying him, his men did pour the concrete and the concrete part is well done. I will pay him when I am sure that I do not need to hold payment as leverage. My complaint is with the damage to my neighbor's property and the common area.

But I also want to keep peace with my neighbor and my HOA. I do not want to admit fault for something that is not my fault, but then I also do not want to end up being a defendant in a lawsuit.

My questions are about my liability. The contractor says that I am not involved in the door thing, that the door is between the contractor and Jack, and he does not want to discuss it with me. I expressed concern that Jack could sue me if the contractor did not pay for the door, and he said no, that I am not liable. I would like to know whether this is true. Am I responsible for damage done by the contractor to Jack's property, and if not, is the contractor responsible for not forseeing that a weed whacker could kick up a projectile to break a glass door?

About the yard, I want it repaired correctly. I don't want to look out from my deck for the rest of the time I live here and see reminders in the yard of a concrete truck. The yard was pristine before this truck came along. Since the contractor has stopped talking to me, should I repair it and send the contractor the bill? Or can I deduct the cost of repairing the grass from my payment to the contractor? If I withhold that part of the payment, can the contractor sue me? Or should I pay the contractor the full amount and then sue him for the cost of repairing the grass?
 



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