Neighbor damaging my home.. what's next?

I’m new to posting here and hoping there are wise, experienced brownstone owners who can help me with a dilemma.

For the past year, I’ve had inexplicable water damage in a bedroom on the 3rd floor of my house. The water damage first showed up as peeling paint, then we discovered the plaster was soaking wet. I brought my neighbor over, with whom I share the side of the house where the leak is, to look at it and ask if he had any ideas about the cause. He told me all of his plumbing was on the opposite side of his house, and said I probably had a roof or chimney issue.

After 9 months of troubleshooting with various experts (general contractor, handyman, roofers, chimney companies), I finally tore down the party wall and discovered my neighbor had been lying to me. He had a corroded, leaking pipe. directly behind the wet wall. The pipe actually had running water coming out of it, and a ton of mold all around it.

Within 2 weeks of notifying my neighbor about his leak, he had his friend fix the leak. I don’t know if this friend was a licensed plumber or not, but the lea k is stopped. For now.

Because this leak was going on for so long, I have damage on 3 levels of my home. Baseboards, ceilings, walls have to be torn out, mold has to be abated, and everything including has to be rebuilt. My contractor’s rough estimate is $50-$75K.

After a few attempts to notify my neighbor that he, or his insurance company, are liable for the damages, it’s clear he’s not going to respond or pay. The two lawyers I’ve spoken to both advised me that even though we have all the evidence of his plumbing issue damaging our property, it could take years in court before this is resolved, and that the legal fees will be significant.

So my question is – how should I move forward? Has anyone here had any success resolving disputes like this in other ways besides the NYC courts?

Or, should I just pay the legal fees and take him to court and see how we do?

Thanks for any advice or insight. I’m also looking for lawyer referrals if you’ve got them.

shannon11201

in General Discussion 5 years and 11 months ago

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dcarter | 5 years and 11 months ago

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you should complain i think

helen40

in General Discussion 5 years and 11 months ago

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If your insurance wont cover, you have no choice but to sue if you want to recover. He may then be forced to bring this to his own insurance company, unless he wants to defend in court on his own. You really have to weigh the risk/reward here after finding out from a reputable lawyer what this may cost you up front. Sounds like an awful situation.

shannon11201 | 5 years and 11 months ago

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Thanks @deancollins and @slopefam. Sadly, I’ve done both. We had two adjustors here, appealed the initial denial, and then got another denial. State Farm just really sucks. That said, I called Jeff Schneider of Gotham Brokerage, who sold us insurance in the past, and he told me it’s true that most policies have this clause about “ongoing leaks.” He said even the premium Chubb policy I’d likely be in the same boat. That made me feel slightly better, but I’m still in the position of having to sue, which completely sucks.

deancollins | 5 years and 11 months ago

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Go and tell the insurance company to pound sand. This is what you buy insurance for this exact issue.

slopefarm | 5 years and 11 months ago

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Kick the tires on the insurance just to make sure. Get out your policy, call them, and have them point you to the clause. Sometimes insurers are overly aggressive in reading their policies and disclaiming. A long shot, but worth a try. Also, it is not your leak but your neighbor’s. The policy may treat concealed damage from a neighbor differently than if it were your own leak.

shannon11201 | 5 years and 11 months ago

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Hi Slopefarm, unfortunately because it’s an “ongoing and persistent leak” my insurer, State Farm, says this is not covered. Apparently it’s a common clause in homeowner’s policies. If it were a sudden burst it would have been covered.

slopefarm | 5 years and 11 months ago

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$50-75k is enough to make an insurance claim. Let your insurer pay you and then it will sue the neighbor and the neighbor insurer will end up paying.