Construction on contiguous building

@ashton13 and @Maggie O…thanks for giving me a laugh today.

SoSlope

in General Discussion 7 years and 4 months ago

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ken.ruck | 7 years and 4 months ago

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The building next door is adding a floor on. The owner just reached out to me to speak about the project that he is starting asap. I believe he should have had a conversation sooner but probably doesnt have to ask me for permission although he wants to put up a sidewalk shed for the next 3-4 months that will go across two sets of my windows. Also what he is building will cut off some of my light and air. What are my rights and options? Do I have to allow him to put up his shed? Is there anyone that can review his plans for me to make sure that he is allowed to cut off my light and air? Thank you in advance

slopefarm | 7 years and 4 months ago

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The very short answer is: get a lawyer who deals with this.

The slightly longer answer is: 1. He needs your permission to come onto your property; 2. you can’t unreasonably withhold that permission; and 3. in exchange for that permission, you can, and should, reasonably obtain protections (insurance, indemnification, sometimes monitoring, etc) from him to cover the risk of damage to your property or liability for injury occurring on your property as a result of the work. Sometimes you can get a bit of money to cover the hassle, too. You should get a lawyer for whom these kinds of agreements are bread and butter to negotiate this for you.

ken.ruck | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Thank you! Any recs on lawyers who do this type of work?

ken.ruck | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Thank you! Any recs on lawyers who do this type of work?

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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@slopefarm covered pretty much everything in his post. A few non-legal points I would add is to understand that (a) this is going to happen, so it’s just going to cause everyone headaches if you try to stop it, (b) the neighbor probably means well and is not actually out to get you or make your life a living hell, and (c) you’ll get better results being nice to the guy and trying to work with him to come up with a solution that allows his project to move forward while still ensuring that you have appropriate protections.

slopefarm | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Yes, in most cases that is true. Best to handle professionally rather than personalize and see where it goes. Both sides have an interest in being reasonable. Unfortunately, not true 100% of the time. Follow EJR’s advice and start out assuming good faith.

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 7 years and 4 months ago

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1) Try (oe have your lawyer try) to get your neighbor to pay for some or all of the lawyer’s fee. Depending on the nature of the work, you may also want to hire an engineer to assure that your property is adequately protected. See if you can get your neighbor to pay for the engineer’s fee.
2) As far as light and air, as long as the building is within the zoning and building code limits, you have no rights over what he does on his property. You have no reason to expect that the adjacent building will not be expanded to its legal limit or torn down and rebuilt to the maximum allowed by zoning.

daveinbedstuy | 7 years and 4 months ago

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David Fainkich is a great RE lawyer. If he doesn’t do this he will know who does 917-376-1588

smadargolan | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Just make sure he doesn’t underpin your party wall and try to steal some of your space in the process. Sorry – I couldn’t resist.

Guest User | 7 years and 4 months ago

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> @ashton13
> Just make sure he doesn’t underpin your party wall and try to steal some of your space in the process.
he’s putting the party wall on casters and moving it an inch daily! i just know it!

Guest User | 7 years and 4 months ago

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> @ashton13
> Just make sure he doesn’t underpin your party wall and try to steal some of your space in the process.
he’s putting the party wall on casters and moving it an inch daily! i just know it!

resident2 | 7 years and 4 months ago

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If the additional floor is being built using the party wall; the neighbor does need your permission, after all part of the wall belongs to you, they cannot build on your property.