I just finished building a house and now i'm being SUED by the back yard neighbor!

[FarmerJ]

Since you were not asked , my question then I will and then I have to get my butt to bed , IS your property just a tiny bit higher than the neighbors EVEN if its as little as 2 or three inch lower than yours ? I ask this because water run off if their lot was lower even before you built then you wouldn't have been for rain run off going onto their lot, your not responsible for skeets either since they also travel on wind / with wind their complaint about not being able to party is hog wash , they could have moved their parties to the front yard and BBQ grilled in the driveway or had the parties indoors . It appears you have moved next to someone who is either sue happy or is from the Entitled people club

 

[quincy]

Since you were not asked , my question then I will and then I have to get my butt to bed , IS your property just a tiny bit higher than the neighbors EVEN if its as little as 2 or three inch lower than yours ? I ask this because water run off if their lot was lower even before you built then you wouldn't have been for rain run off going onto their lot, your not responsible for skeets either since they also travel on wind / with wind their complaint about not being able to party is hog wash , they could have moved their parties to the front yard and BBQ grilled in the driveway or had the parties indoors . It appears you have moved next to someone who is either sue happy or is from the Entitled people club

Whether or not a property owner, whose property is a higher elevation than the neighboring property, can be held liable for rain water draining onto the lower property depends on the rain water's natural flow and if this natural flow was altered/diverted by an act of the owner of the higher property.

Here is a link to an oft-cited case on the natural flow of water (Keys v. Romley):
http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/keys-v-romley-29982

 

[adjusterjack]

Of course, they're not going to cover claims that arise from actions before the policy was effective.

True. But they have a duty to investigate. They may even handle the lawsuit under a Reservation of Rights, which essentially says "We'll handle this for now, but when we confirm that all of this happened before the policy was issued, we will hand it back to you and you are on your own."

 

[FarmerJ]

I get it that changes to ones property can cause water to go to a neighbors property BUT if the neighbors property is lower than the building site even with changes that take into account drainage it is possible there still is going to be run off onto a neighboring lot. So now that ive started having wake up coffee I gotta ask , does city ordinance where you are require builders to take steps to control run off during construction and even if its not addressed in ordinances did your builder take steps to reduce run off or control it or redirect it away from the neighbors lot?

 

[quincy]

I get it that changes to ones property can cause water to go to a neighbors property BUT if the neighbors property is lower than the building site even with changes that take into account drainage it is possible there still is going to be run off onto a neighboring lot. So now that ive started having wake up coffee I gotta ask , does city ordinance where you are require builders to take steps to control run off during construction and even if its not addressed in ordinances did your builder take steps to reduce run off or control it or redirect it away from the neighbors lot?

It is natural flow that is considered. If the neighbors had no problem with rain water draining into their yard before construction and now have problems with rain water, the rain water's flow was possibly (probably?) diverted during construction, leading to damage that could rightly be attributed to the one(s) who altered the natural flow.

 

[MarySanchez]

What was the 4th point again?

 

[MarySanchez]

It is all the process and the builder should have taken care in the first place. And after the things are done, you cannot just blame like that. The neighbors should have warned your builder the time when it was happening only.

 

[quincy]

It is all the process and the builder should have taken care in the first place. And after the things are done, you cannot just blame like that. The neighbors should have warned your builder the time when it was happening only.

Huh?

 

[not2cleverRed]

What was the 4th point again?

I'll assume that you are being sarcastic, since it's quicker to go back and read the initial post.

It is all the process and the builder should have taken care in the first place. And after the things are done, you cannot just blame like that. The neighbors should have warned your builder the time when it was happening only.

Actually, depending on the details, they can.

If their property was damaged by the actions of Baylor's builder, the only time that they can complain is after the damage is done.

The 1st and 4th points seem weak to me, but again, depending on the details, even those points could be valid under certain circumstances. It is not unknown for posters in this forum to minimize the complaints they've received from others.

 

[quincy]

It is generally only after something is done that you can blame someone for doing it.

MarySanchez was busy this morning.

 

[Shadowbunny]

Since MarySanchez appears to be a spam-seeder, do we need to report her posts or is M already aware?

 

[quincy]

Since MarySanchez appears to be a spam-seeder, do we need to report her posts or is M already aware?

MarySanchez was already reported.