Is my neighbor responsible for damage done by his unsecured property?

Our neighbors have an elevated view deck where they kept an unsecured glass patio table and chairs. During a recent monsoon storm the table flip on its side and shattered. As a result, we have tempered glass all over our back yard and over $1500 worth of damage done to a one year old enclosed trailer that was legally parked in our back yard.
My neighbors says since the wind storm was out of his control, he is not responsible. My question : Is he is responsible for not securing his property on an elevated view deck that overlooks our property.? How do I ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen? We live in an area that is known for micro-burst and strong wind storms.

Guest User | 9 years and 9 months ago

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dorkofwindsor | 9 years and 9 months ago

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your neighbor is a dick. take them to court. i would be so pissed off by that response that i would already have already filed the small claims paperwork.

daveinbedstuy | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Even if you don’t want to submit a claim, ask your insurance agent.

EJR | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Further to what slopefarm said, I have reasonable certain (though not positive) that the law in New York is that you are responsible for tree limbs above your property, even if the tree is growing on someone else’s property. While this means that a neighbor is not responsible for tree limb damage, it also means that you are entitled to prune tree limbs hanging over your property even if the tree is growing on the adjacent property.

Also agree that the table is a different story and the neighbor is likely responsible.

As an aside, I used to mediate small claims matters while in law school. One advantage to claimants (and defendants) of opting for mediation is that they can avoid the very long waits to actually have the matter heard by a “judge” (small claims court matters are often heard by practicing attorneys who are not actually judges but get pro bono credit for settling these types of claims).

slopefarm | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Tree limb is different, i believe. Each bears risk on own side of line, unless tree owner is negligent. As long as you get your trees inspected and take down branches when recommended by professionals, then you are not responsible for limb doing damage next door. If you don’t inspect, or ignore professional recommendation, risk of loss may shift to you for damage to neighbor. But — and i don’t know the law on this — if a storm is coming and you leave furniture loose outside, that seems like good ole fashioned negligence. End of the day, it is all about taking reasonable care.

BKRed | 9 years and 9 months ago

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I hate to be the dissenter, and I’m no attorney, but I had a similar experience with a tree limb knocking out my gazebo. Because it was an Act of God, they were not responsible (by the law). However, by notifying them of a potential hazard their tree could cause, they are responsible for anything in the future. Of course, it would have been great if they were decent people and just owned up and paid up, but that isn’t what happened. I would have tried my luck in small claims if not for a family issue that came up. But several attorneys did advise me in the info above.

slopefarm | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Tally your total costs — you want your back yard to be glass free.

If the total is under $5k, then yeah, small claims court.

This is not a big amount, so be willing to move this along to arbitration or mediation in small claims court and be willing to accept a partial result. Doing this will go a long way towards your neighbor taking better precaution next time.

But give your neighbor one more chance. Say, look, I don’t want to have to go to small claims court over this, but you really needed to secure your furniture and it cost me a bunch of money. I shouldn’t have to eat this and we should just work it out.

resident2 | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Of course they are responsible for not taking in their unsecured furniture in a storm. His furniture is in his control and he needs to take responsibility for it.

lgwlcvqt | 9 years and 9 months ago

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Small claims if they’re refusing responsibility

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Is my neighbor responsible for damage done by his unsecured property?

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