Granting Access to Neighbor
The side of our neighbor’s home is at the end of our backyard. She came by this afternoon saying that her basement is leaking and that she needs to access our yard to allow her contractor to dig down and fix her foundation. There is about 4 feet of dirt along her wall and we…
The side of our neighbor’s home is at the end of our backyard. She came by this afternoon saying that her basement is leaking and that she needs to access our yard to allow her contractor to dig down and fix her foundation. There is about 4 feet of dirt along her wall and we have a huge tree. I’m not worried about the digging so much as them damaging the tree and god knows what else could happen. She does not speak very good English and is hard to understand. We want to speak with her contractor to make sure that they are licensed and insured. What else can we ask to protect ourselves? May we dictate when they come to do the work? I would like to be at home when they are in our backyard but my husband and I both work M-F. Can we require they come over the weekend? What other protection do we need to be sure to have? Thank you all for your help!
If i recall from a similar issue the homeowner will be allowed to remove the tree roots impinging on his masonry. That’s why you may need an arboroist. Even one that speaks funny. And why should you pay for it?
Hi, OP here – I’m not starting adversarially at all…we had as nice as a discussion as possible, gave her our #s and asked her son to call (he did this morning) so we can set up a time to meet with the contractor to understand the scope of the work. We don’t want to stop her from fixing her problem in any way, we are good neighbors but have never been in this situation before and want to be sure to protect ourselves and our tree too. I have an additional question after reading these posts…what if our tree’s roots are causing the damage? Are we responsible for the damage? Are we required to remove the tree?
good thing you guys are not my neighbors, I speak english funny too, especially to people who won’t talk to me first.
No, I totally disagree. If you start adversarially, you’ll end up that way. There’s a difference between being diligent and looking for trouble.
I’d agree w/ Denton – better pre-emptive than fighting a rearguard action. Maybe hire someone to be there representing you if work is done during the week.
I hear ya cmu but sounds like the op has some legitimate worries in this case… no english, tree in the way…
Good way to start adversarially…hire a lawyer.
When someone on my block had a tree fall in a hailstorm some time ago, I’m sure they never went through all this. Neighbors talked with each other, they got the tree out of there in a day and the fences repaired in a week.
Why assume the worst and want to assert your “rights?” that’s a recipe for illwill and bad outcome. And denton suggests “could try to only allow work on the weekend as part of the deal”..huh? Most times there’s arguments about *allowing* work on the weekends.
under NYS real property law, she has the right to enter your property to make repairs.
You have some rights as well.
You should have a written agreement, especially important if she can’t speak English. In part of that agreement, she should agree to hold you harmless for anything and everything that happens as a result of the work. And she must agree to put everything back the way it was. The agreement should also lay out start dates, end dates, means of access, hours of work, and detailed scope of work. You also should have the right to stop the work at no penalty if something comes up that makes you feel uncomfortable.
You have the right to ensure she uses a licensed contractor, the contractor should furnish you a certificate of insurance with you and family named as add’l insureds. Make sure also you see a workers comp cert from the contractor. All this applies to any subs. I assume he will be digging a trench, make sure he has the expertise to do so and to appropriately support the walls.
She should agree to allow you to hire an arborist to look at the tree, she should pay for the arborist, and any special recommendations made by the arborist should be incorporated into the written agreement, and you may want to pay for an add’l visit or two by the arborist when the foundation is open, all at her expense, natch. If the arborist feels the tree could be damaged, have her put some money in escrow for a year until the tree is determined to be OK. (arborist to be the authority)
You could try to only allow work on the weekend as part of the deal. Not sure if a court would or would not agree to it.
Since I know what it will cost for her to go to court, you may also ask her to pay you a fee for access, enuf to cover your inconvenience. You won’t get that if you go to court tho.
If you’re uncomfortable with someone digging around the foundation, you may want to retain an engineer (at her expense) to have a look when the trench is open.
You really should get a lawyer but the above is pretty much what s/he’ll tell you, as I have been thru this already, including the tree.
PS, if you hate the tree, you may ask that it be removed first, at her expense. That would save the cost of the arborist.