Is Neighbor Responsible for Property Damages?
My neighbor is doing renovation and his contractor has caused damages to my property. Is my neighbor legally responsible for the damage repair? (He said he didn’t do it and told me to contact whoever did it; and his contractor just simply doesn’t respond to me when I contacted them.)
My neighbor is doing renovation and his contractor has caused damages to my property. Is my neighbor legally responsible for the damage repair? (He said he didn’t do it and told me to contact whoever did it; and his contractor just simply doesn’t respond to me when I contacted them.)
Talk to your neighbor and if that goes no where call your insurance co.and file a claim they will then go after the contractor/neighbor. If that does not work then get a lawyer.
Thank you so much everyone for all your helpful suggestions! The damage is between $5K-6K, which is just below my insurance deductable. I am worried about – if I get my insurance involved and if my insurance considers it as my deductable, I’ll not get a penny out of this, but bear the risk of having my premium increased in the future. Am I thinking right?
What SMeyer and SlopeFarm said. I would recommend not dealing directly with the contractor — that’s the neighbor’s job, who hired the guy in the first place. A formal, notarized letter mentioning subrogating insurance policies blah blah blah… would be the next step. Only if that is ignored would I get a lawyer to write a letter.
You don’t provide much detail but… I assume we’re not crying about spilled paint on the sidewalk. Don’t wait. Start the conversation asap. I would call 311 and the DOB today if they refuse to talk. Sounds like the stonewalling has already begun.
You should try and avoid lawyers at all cost. What slopefarm said above is a good start. One exception is to have a lawyer check your insurance coverage to see if you are actually covered, because THEY WILL DENY THAT YOU ARE COVERED BY NEIGHBOR’S IRRESPONSIBLE CONTRACTORS. Let the insurance company lawyers battle it out at no cost to you if at all possible.
Don’t assume that the contractor has valid insurance coverage either as it is very easy to deceive the DOB in order to get their permits.If your neighbor is a developer, don’t trust anything they promise. Contractor/developers have multiple LLC’s they use to shield themselves from liability lawsuits.
If talking fails, lawyers charge $400 per hour. The property damage civil court case I am currently involved in, 5 years now, total cost, maybe half a million dollars in combined legal fees, could be considered a “worst case scenario”.
Damage less than or equal to $5000 should be handled in small claims court or just eat the cost. Greater than $5000 you might consider a lawyer but understand that lawyers will require retainers before they begin. $10,000-$20,000 just to take the case.
Document everything… With video, photography, letters to politicians, calls to 311, I mean everything. The DOB BIS web page should be checked regularly. Don’t expect any city agency to actually help you though.
This is giving me a headache… Let’s cut to the chase… Do you have a hand gun permit?
an owner is responsible for the contractors he/she hires to do work on their property. If they damaged your property he is responsible….in most cases. As to whether he gets it back from them is between him and the contractor. he has insurance I am sure. Write him a nice letter saying that he should either reimburse you or arrange for his contractor or insurance company to do so. I would say that I tried to contact his contractor and they have been unresponsive. So he either has to use his good offices to get your results and payment or you will have to involve him further…so its his choice.
The first question I have is how much is the damage? If it’s something like $1000, a lawyer is not a cost-effective strategy (and I say this as a litigator myself). Even if you can find some kind of bargain-basement litigator for, say $200 (and it’s likely going to be more than that), that’s all of five hours of time before your legal fees outstrip the cost of repair.
I agree that you should pursue matters directly with the owner and the contractor — keep after them politely but firmly. The DOB might be the next stop (try 311 to complain about unsafe conditions — damage to your property arguably is a safety condition).
If after that there is still no satisfaction, then try the New York City Civil Court route. Each borough has one, and the clerk’s office is set up to help out lawyerless litigants navigate the maze. The contractors have insurance (or are supposed to if they are legit), and if it’s a small amount, the contractor may just deal with it itself rather than risk its premiums going up.
Of course, if we’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars of damages, then absolutely start talking to a lawyer. Good luck.
Not to everyone else: When this type of construction activity starts next to your home, take pictures, lots of them, to document what your property looks like before!!!!
How much is the damage? If it gets to suit stage, lawyer will probably advise you to sue everyone and let things take their course. As with many aspects of law, there will be rules and exceptions regarding when an owner is responsible for property damage caused by a contractor or sub, some of which will depend on the facts. Underlying it all will be insurance (hopefully), both owner and contractor, particularly if this is neighbor’s residence (homeowner’s) and a filed job (contractor more liklely to have adequate liability coverage). How you pursue this will all depend on how much damage costs, and whether it is worth hiring lawyer to recover.
Perhaps a first step is to have a conversation with neighbor about contractor. Are you on good terms with neighbor generally? Try something like, “I’d like to keep things neighborly between us but your contractor isn’t responding at all. If your contractor does not take care of this, I may have to escalate this and i may not be able to keep you out of it. It’s cost me $________ so far and I have to protect my interest.” Something like that. Neighbor’s response will tell you where you go next.
Yes. Unfortunately you will have to get a lawyer. Tell them you are going to do so, maybe that will prod them but they sound like ignorant asses so it may be a battle.
Check the DOB website for permits too and call in if they have none. I would never rat on anyone doing work without a permit but if they start this crap then , yes.