WWYD: Civil neighbor property damage situation
01-27-2010, 07:07 AM
#31
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Jacob
I myself had a situation almost the same as yours.. And well, your friend is pretty SOL.. The tarp and feet that caused damage to the car is due to "an act of nature"
The landlord, tenant, and who ever else has anything to do with the tarp have no legal obligation. Business insurance as well as home owners insurance won't cover "an act of nature" either...
I myself had a situation almost the same as yours.. And well, your friend is pretty SOL.. The tarp and feet that caused damage to the car is due to "an act of nature"
The landlord, tenant, and who ever else has anything to do with the tarp have no legal obligation. Business insurance as well as home owners insurance won't cover "an act of nature" either...
What you are saying is I could build a big flimsy illegal wall on my side, and if it toppled over in a breeze and crushed his car I could just shrug it off and not be responsible. While that sounds crappy enough to be exactly how our legal system works, I cannot believe that this is the way the world and karma works. This whole thing is pretty weird and totally new to me, and I hope this is really not the case. I guess we will see, we have a court date.
01-27-2010, 07:39 AM
#32
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This thread is documentation. If no other documentation is available, this should work as it shows dates and what occured. You can also get records of all the complaints you have filed.
The police have no real responsibility as this is a civil matter, so do not expect much help from them as it is not really their job unless the threats start flying. Do NOT threaten this guy, just take his *** to small claims court.
Every county should have a small claims advisor that you can contact regarding these kinds of issues. I suggest you find out who it is and talk with them.
I hope you have been taking pictures consistently to show a record of negligence on his part.
Oh I almost forgot: take his landlord to court as he is probably liable, especially considering he had knowledge of this and did not MAKE him take it down with threat of eviction.
The police have no real responsibility as this is a civil matter, so do not expect much help from them as it is not really their job unless the threats start flying. Do NOT threaten this guy, just take his *** to small claims court.
Every county should have a small claims advisor that you can contact regarding these kinds of issues. I suggest you find out who it is and talk with them.
I hope you have been taking pictures consistently to show a record of negligence on his part.
Oh I almost forgot: take his landlord to court as he is probably liable, especially considering he had knowledge of this and did not MAKE him take it down with threat of eviction.
01-27-2010, 09:55 AM
#33
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This thread is documentation. If no other documentation is available, this should work as it shows dates and what occured. You can also get records of all the complaints you have filed.
The police have no real responsibility as this is a civil matter, so do not expect much help from them as it is not really their job unless the threats start flying. Do NOT threaten this guy, just take his *** to small claims court.
Every county should have a small claims advisor that you can contact regarding these kinds of issues. I suggest you find out who it is and talk with them.
I hope you have been taking pictures consistently to show a record of negligence on his part.
Oh I almost forgot: take his landlord to court as he is probably liable, especially considering he had knowledge of this and did not MAKE him take it down with threat of eviction.
The police have no real responsibility as this is a civil matter, so do not expect much help from them as it is not really their job unless the threats start flying. Do NOT threaten this guy, just take his *** to small claims court.
Every county should have a small claims advisor that you can contact regarding these kinds of issues. I suggest you find out who it is and talk with them.
I hope you have been taking pictures consistently to show a record of negligence on his part.
Oh I almost forgot: take his landlord to court as he is probably liable, especially considering he had knowledge of this and did not MAKE him take it down with threat of eviction.
The landlord is also my landlord and he has told me flatly that he WILL NOT get involved and will not even help me by putting in writing the couple things he could that would help and back up the issue. He has told the fellow to take it down, as well as to keep the area in front of his garage (the landlord has cars in his garage on his side and likes to be able to access them) but he leaves the carport tent, and a trailer and some other crap in front of the garage. I have helped the landlord move all of this stuff out of the way once to get a car out, and he was VERY upset about it but still will do nothing to help with the situation. My stand is that it's HIS tenant that is causing these issues, so he is liable too at least in part. Seeking legal assistance today since I am not well advised in the areas of protecting myself from criminals.
I have been taking pictures, but they are not well organized and I just realized that a bit of my video of the carport blowing around got deleted. It will surely happen again, so no worries there but still... I need to get good pics of everything though, and I will try to do so today if possible.
01-27-2010, 01:22 PM
#34
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It may be possible to recover the video if a lot of data has not been written to the drive/disk since it was deleted.
The photos should have a timestamp IIRC.
Anyway good luck!! Hopefully you can find somewhere else to live and then sue the landlord...once you have obtained a good written rental reference of course!!
The photos should have a timestamp IIRC.
Anyway good luck!! Hopefully you can find somewhere else to live and then sue the landlord...once you have obtained a good written rental reference of course!!
01-27-2010, 02:22 PM
#35
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The small claims case has been filed, however he is countersuing based on 14 points of contrived crap. I spoke to the business across the street this morning and apparently he has been going over there and questioning them about the car to build his case for not being responsible for the damage he created.
The landlord is also my landlord and he has told me flatly that he WILL NOT get involved and will not even help me by putting in writing the couple things he could that would help and back up the issue. He has told the fellow to take it down, as well as to keep the area in front of his garage (the landlord has cars in his garage on his side and likes to be able to access them) but he leaves the carport tent, and a trailer and some other crap in front of the garage. I have helped the landlord move all of this stuff out of the way once to get a car out, and he was VERY upset about it but still will do nothing to help with the situation. My stand is that it's HIS tenant that is causing these issues, so he is liable too at least in part. Seeking legal assistance today since I am not well advised in the areas of protecting myself from criminals.
I have been taking pictures, but they are not well organized and I just realized that a bit of my video of the carport blowing around got deleted. It will surely happen again, so no worries there but still... I need to get good pics of everything though, and I will try to do so today if possible.
The landlord is also my landlord and he has told me flatly that he WILL NOT get involved and will not even help me by putting in writing the couple things he could that would help and back up the issue. He has told the fellow to take it down, as well as to keep the area in front of his garage (the landlord has cars in his garage on his side and likes to be able to access them) but he leaves the carport tent, and a trailer and some other crap in front of the garage. I have helped the landlord move all of this stuff out of the way once to get a car out, and he was VERY upset about it but still will do nothing to help with the situation. My stand is that it's HIS tenant that is causing these issues, so he is liable too at least in part. Seeking legal assistance today since I am not well advised in the areas of protecting myself from criminals.
I have been taking pictures, but they are not well organized and I just realized that a bit of my video of the carport blowing around got deleted. It will surely happen again, so no worries there but still... I need to get good pics of everything though, and I will try to do so today if possible.
01-27-2010, 02:39 PM
#36
Yooo
What you need to do is get all your stuff in order, and get a legitimate lawyer who knows wtf he is doing to call the guy and tell him your are going to sue the **** out of him if he doesn't make it right. The guy is obviously testing you hoping to intimidate you into backing down or at least confuse the situation. You need to make it clear not only are you not worried about this but that you are prepared to take care of the situation via other means or your own suit that actually would hold water.
Also I don't believe illegal structures that are by definition improperly and unsafely mounted, not to mention warnings to the guy about it before it happened....especially at a business revenue making location would be considered act of nature.
You know the Seattle Space needle? lets say when it was installed part of the approved plans for safety measures were forgotten on the install, and in the first big rain storm it falls right off and kills a bunch of people. Do you think this is going to be an act of nature or negligence coupled with illegal fine for illegal building work and manslaughter. Looks to be the same case for this guy except no one died, BUT IMPORTANTLY this guy pays to live over here, he wasn't even just visiting the guys business, and he warned him multiple times.
What you need to do is get all your stuff in order, and get a legitimate lawyer who knows wtf he is doing to call the guy and tell him your are going to sue the **** out of him if he doesn't make it right. The guy is obviously testing you hoping to intimidate you into backing down or at least confuse the situation. You need to make it clear not only are you not worried about this but that you are prepared to take care of the situation via other means or your own suit that actually would hold water.
Also I don't believe illegal structures that are by definition improperly and unsafely mounted, not to mention warnings to the guy about it before it happened....especially at a business revenue making location would be considered act of nature.
You know the Seattle Space needle? lets say when it was installed part of the approved plans for safety measures were forgotten on the install, and in the first big rain storm it falls right off and kills a bunch of people. Do you think this is going to be an act of nature or negligence coupled with illegal fine for illegal building work and manslaughter. Looks to be the same case for this guy except no one died, BUT IMPORTANTLY this guy pays to live over here, he wasn't even just visiting the guys business, and he warned him multiple times.
Last edited by slow04wrx; 01-27-2010 at 02:46 PM.
01-28-2010, 11:46 AM
#37
His counter claims will only make him look worse. Make sure your friend brings paperwork that his tent is illegal and pictures of the damage to the car the first time. Get notarized letters from the people that helped you remove the tent from the vehicle. Hopefully the mans wife will be there and will tell the judge she helped get the tent off. If you don't have pictures of the tent on the car or the notarized letters your friend may not win.
Has the guy admitted to causing the damage to the police or anyone? What did he say in his response the claim?
Has the guy admitted to causing the damage to the police or anyone? What did he say in his response the claim?
01-28-2010, 11:58 AM
#38
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subscribed. time to move to a different place with not as ****ty roomies.
oh yeah check out the LEO forum at bayarearidersforum.com and try posting your situation there and see what they have to say. you might get a ton of neg responses but you will get some good responses
oh yeah check out the LEO forum at bayarearidersforum.com and try posting your situation there and see what they have to say. you might get a ton of neg responses but you will get some good responses
Last edited by Crafty Slug; 01-28-2010 at 12:01 PM.
01-28-2010, 04:49 PM
#39
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I appreciate your comments, but that seems like real stretch. This guy put up a structure, was asked to secure it, was told to take it down by his landlord, was told it is illegal by the city, and then it broke loose and caused $2200 worth of damage.
What you are saying is I could build a big flimsy illegal wall on my side, and if it toppled over in a breeze and crushed his car I could just shrug it off and not be responsible. While that sounds crappy enough to be exactly how our legal system works, I cannot believe that this is the way the world and karma works. This whole thing is pretty weird and totally new to me, and I hope this is really not the case. I guess we will see, we have a court date.
What you are saying is I could build a big flimsy illegal wall on my side, and if it toppled over in a breeze and crushed his car I could just shrug it off and not be responsible. While that sounds crappy enough to be exactly how our legal system works, I cannot believe that this is the way the world and karma works. This whole thing is pretty weird and totally new to me, and I hope this is really not the case. I guess we will see, we have a court date.
06-12-2012, 07:41 PM
#40
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Oh wow, I can't believe I never updated this. Short story, we went to court, the dude made a complete fool of himself but I still had to sit across the table from him and listen to him claim that myself and my wife stole his property and did all these other completely contrived things. My lawyer nearly had to punch me to get me to shut up (I am an idiot) but in the end I listened and the guy did far more damage to his "case" than I ever could have, just by talking.
The (then) owner of the vehicle won $2498 in damages, the guy actually paid, and the car has since been repaired. I can still see the crease in the door since it's a bad repair job, but the car has other issues and it will be corrected some day.
But... The best part of the story is that this car is mine now, and just about ready to rock! It has sat for 3 years and had some smog issues to get worked out, but it's just about done. I am SOFA KING EXCITED to be back in a bugeye again!
The shop, the carport, said ******* - all exist in place to this day.
The (then) owner of the vehicle won $2498 in damages, the guy actually paid, and the car has since been repaired. I can still see the crease in the door since it's a bad repair job, but the car has other issues and it will be corrected some day.
But... The best part of the story is that this car is mine now, and just about ready to rock! It has sat for 3 years and had some smog issues to get worked out, but it's just about done. I am SOFA KING EXCITED to be back in a bugeye again!
The shop, the carport, said ******* - all exist in place to this day.
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