Neighbor won't take care of wet cellar
What can I do to force my slumlord neighbor to fix an ongoing pipe leak in his basement?
My cellar walls on that side are wet and show a rusty color.
Augustiner
in General Discussion 6 years and 7 months ago
4
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4 replies
ccollister | 6 years and 7 months ago
We had a similar problem but actually worse, because we had a very old neighbor living in a dilapidated house, who was in hospice and his pipe was leaking all over the wall in our parlor. We consulted our insurance & our lawyers. Bottom line was we finally had to pay for the repairs. Our old neighbor was mentally & physically unable to cope & was estranged from all family. We luckily are on good terms with our other neighbors and together we were able to access the building and get a plumber to repair it – with the written consent of our pold neighbor, the home owner. It involved breaking into the walls and replacing a large part of the main pipe. We did not pay for the wall repairs- only thevpipe & the plumber($800). We have paid for other repairs for old neighbor over the years, as he was unable to. He died, the house was sold & renovated & now for the first time in 20 years we have a dry basement!! We had terrible roaches because of the damp walls. Good luck with your repairs.
JohnHancock | 6 years and 7 months ago
DEP has visited and said they are powerless since its rainwater
resident2 | 6 years and 7 months ago
If it is sewer water; the DEP can do a test on your side and file a complaint which leads to a DEP court appearance and complaint and open case record against the next door property. Fines imposed if no appearance etc etc.
I had a case like this a few years ago with a neighbor. The DEP camped out on the block for a week trying to get access. The tenants had no access to the cellar, but the DEP guys told any neighbor that asked why they were there… the neighbors got to the owner & eventually the DEP guys got in. Issued a violation, threatened to turn all the water off in the building….. It took six months from the beginning of calling 311, the community board etc to the sewer line getting replaced and no more leak from next door.
If it is clean water: the DEP will file for water wastage & check that it is going through the meter… again they will post the building and warn of a water turn off if the leak is not fixed. But it has to be an extensive leak for that to happen.
The bottom line is; it is not the DOB you want, it is the DEP.
JohnHancock | 6 years and 7 months ago
Dealing with this myself. DOB can’t do anything since they can’t inspect unless they let them in which they won’t. Supervisor told me there is nothing they can do!
Maybe when the DOB can enforce their rules we have a chance to resolve.