Problem with neighbor. How should I handle it?

You should get in touch with the condo’s president, Don’t be surprised if it was just an owner in the building and the condo board never even knew. Also keep in mind that the contractor may have been hired to fix the issue and took the liberty of screwing you with out the condo board or whom ever hired him knowing what they did, or how the solved the water issues. Before you go all legal first find out what happened.

Adamc1303

in Property Management 12 years and 11 months ago

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starfish11040 | 12 years and 11 months ago

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I own a brownstone on a block in Park Slope which slopes down from the Park. When it rains hard, water flows down from one back yard to the next. So water flows from the yard of my neighbor on the left into my yard and from my yard to that of my neighbor on the right. All of a sudden i get a frantic call this morning from the tenant in the garden apartment that the backyard turned into a pool and their apartment is being flooded. Well, it turns out that very recenty my neighbor on the right hired someone to go into MY backyard, WITHOUT my permission and WITHOUT my knowledge, and regrade the concrete to slope up to their property. (It was level before). That of course stopped the water from flowing into their property and to backflow into mine. In fact the sloped concrete leads right to my tenant’s doorway. The tenants spent three hours water vacuuming to minimize the damage. It’s lucky they were home. I’ve never met these people (it’s a condo). What they did is obviously illegal. My question is how should I approach this. Can I threaten to hire someone to relevel the concrete and then sue them in small claims court?

GoodProspect | 12 years and 11 months ago

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were you not aware when the work was being done? This is not a 2-hour project, so you must have been. Did you not speak about it with them? You have to speak with them about it now and tell them what impact their work is having on your building and tenants. See what they say.

GoodProspect | 12 years and 11 months ago

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And report back here!

Rick | 12 years and 11 months ago

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This happens all the time. I’m not surprised at all. I had a similar problem. My neighbors up the hill from me were only concern about directing water down the hill and not taking the time and expense to install storm drains. I tried to get them to do the right thing but had little luck. The lower you are on a hill the more more water will be forced in your yard and I’m sure all the rain we have been having is testing the limits. If your neighbors have cement back yards it gets much worst.  Sure, you can sue your neighbor or file a claim with your insurance company. That will wake them up to the situation. In the end I ended up building a three foot tall cinderblock wall ( a moat of sorts )  around the perimiter of my yard and added an extra storm drain connected through my basement. That solved my problem and it forced my unhelpful neighbors up the hill to deal with their own water problems.

bkmatthew | 12 years and 11 months ago

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I suggest calling your insurance agent and having a chat about this and discuss whether it’s worth your while filing a claim and having the insurance company go all legal on their ass. After speaking to the insurance agent, if s/he says that they will go all legal, you might call the managing agent/condo board president, explain the situation and suggest that they do the right thing. If they won’t (probable) file your claim. You may also want to consider installing a storm drain to prevent a recurrence. Going tit for tat is just going to escalate the situation. I suspect that if the condo trespassed on your property without trying to contact you first, it is run by less than ethical people, so going legal and installing your drain are your best options.

Townie | 12 years and 11 months ago

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 Wow thems some mighty big balls!!!   it sounds like the downstream neighbor also has/had a water problem, the source, by your own admission, being the run-off from the rear yard of your building. In the long run the only way you can guarantee the security of your property is with a drain. Spend your money on a good plumber not a lawyer.   Luv to know what the condo pres was thinking when they sent that handyman over  to re-grade your patio.   Better tell your tenants never to allow any worker onto your property without prior permission.  That’s how my building was robbed.