Adjacent construction damage

The house right next to us created an extension 8 years ago and in doing so dislodged a few bricks on their side of the property line. They hammered in a piece of wood so that they would stay in place but never did masonry repair work. Years later the weather has crept in and now our ceiling has water damage that is being caused by water seeping in through those cracks since it is right at the division of the property lines. The owners of this property are an elusive LLC and communicating with them is literally impossible. I really don’t want to pay for the repair of their bricks as it will be too costly for me and it is their property line. Any advice or similar experiences?

frito160

in General Discussion 3 years and 10 months ago

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hkapstein | 3 years and 10 months ago

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I don’t think they can get away with that if you’re persistent. They cannot legally transfer the property and leave the LLC with no money to pay. While it could become a collection issue, I think you have a good shot at getting them to pay, because no matter what they do with the title, the asset cannot be moved. This is lawyer stuff so I won’t get into that, but I’m sure you can check it out yourself. Since you would then be able to most likely recoupt the collection costs, it would probably be in their interest to settle when they see you’re not deterred.

Some other ideas. Did they pull a permit for the extension? If not, you could bring in DOB who will make them take it down or file it and fix it. Make sure you meet them and take them into the yard so they can see it. If they did get a permit who pulled the permit? Look up the contractor’s insurance and tell them you’re making a claim. You could also try going after the architects or TR1 inspectors who signed off the job.

frito160 | 3 years and 10 months ago

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Good idea but they’re just shysters. Another neighbor took them there for nother issue, won, and never saw the money since they “transferred ownership”.

frito160 | 3 years and 10 months ago

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Good idea but they’re just shysters. Another neighbor took them there for nother issue, won, and never saw the money since they “transferred ownership”.

hkapstein | 3 years and 10 months ago

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It might be a good situation for small claims court. The LLC probably isn’t set up well to handle a face to face argument about bricks, and maybe they settle.