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Water loss in Condo caused by neighbors!!!

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steved5892

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Arizona

Ok, this might take awhile but here we go. I own a Condo with one Common wall. On May 26 I noticed some water on my kitchen floor but thought nothing of it. I thought it may have come from the dog. Next morning there was still water, at this point I looked under the sink and dishwasher but couldn't find a leak. I called my home warranty company and they sent out a plumber that same day and he also could not find a leak. I was going out of town for 10 days the following day so I turned off my Main Line so as to stop any further leaks. When I got back in town the following Sunday there was a large amount of residual water in my kitchen and my carpet in the dining room was wet like a sponge. At this point I called my HOA manager and he sent out a plumber for me that same afternoon. He couldn't detect a leak but suspected a slab leak. So the next day his boss came out with leak detection equipment and also could not find a leak on my side. So he started pushing on the drywall underneath the sink and it caved in. He was able to see water dripping and bits and pieces of food in the wall. At this point we went next door to my neighbors unit to inspect under their sink at which point he discovered that the drain pipe from the sink/dishwasher leading into the wall that connects to the main drainpipe in the wall was loose inside the wall and not secured to the main line. Everything coming from sink/dishwasher was ending up in the wall and eventually into my unit. At this point the HOA manager got them to fix the leak issue but I had a lot of water damage at this point. I contacted the owner of the unit next door who resides in Washington, they bought the condo for the college age daughter to live in. They filed a claim through their insurance, Country Insurance and financial services, who proceeded to deny the claim citing no negligence on their insured's part. The next door neighbors had recently purchased the unit from an investor about a month or two before end of march early april. They asked for the dishwasher to be replaced prior to occupancy which was addressed on the buyers inspection. So at this point I went to my insurance, Allstate, filed a claim and met with the adjustor who proceeded to cut me a check for $120, minus my deductible. I was outraged at this point. I had damage above $10k, but all they claimed responiblity for was the carpet, cleaning the tile floor and paint. I was instructed by my insurance to get the "rest" from the master HOA policy. So I went back to the HOA manager and informed him that he needed to get this dealt with. Claim was filed with Auto Owners insurance, adjustor came out, determined liability was for common wall only. So they are paying the close to $10k for Mold remediation/abatement and to reconstruct the common wall. Well after a 3rd party mold inpsector's test the unit has been declared unlivable because of high count of airborne mold. So I'm living in a extended stay hotel at this point, paid for by Allstate. Problem is, they only allot $5k for any mold related loses. I've been informed by the contractor and mold inspector that the cost to clean and replaces articles throughout my whole condo will probably run into the $25k+ range. So it's now MY responsiblity. That's pretty much it to this point. I'm not sure how to get the neighbors or their insurance to pay for the damages caused by THEM. Thanks in advance for your input and sorry for the long post.

steve
 



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