Neighbor diverting drainage into my yard?
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Anonymous
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Hi. My neighbor had some issues with water seeping into his house. His solution was to drain the water from his gutters away from my house and into my yard vs. spending the money to drain towards the front drainage ditch near the street.
This has caused considerable erosion on my property. Everytime it rained, we had a mess of mud and water on our driveway, coming from the neighbor's roof drainage. My husband and I have tried to solve this by putting in some drains. It has been costly though..very costly. Is there any recourse for something like this? Anything we can do? I live in Montgomery county (Rockville) THanks! |
Anonymous
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Talk to your neighbor?
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Anonymous
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We have. He says he cannot afford to extend the line towards the street. He did the work and then asked us if it was ok - after the fact. We told him "No, this is not ok" He claimed the work had already been done and could not be changed.
I am wondering if there is a regulatory/legal entity in the county that handles these sorts of things that we could go to... |
Anonymous
| Put a plastic barrier on you property to divert it back. Just that plastic landscaping to keep mulch in. |
Anonymous
Basically this +1 You need to take action to protect your property from the water run off. Most courts, I think DC for example treat rainwater run off as a "common enemy". Did your neighbor alter his property/land in anyway that makes the rainwater run into yours, other than the gutters? If so this might be considered "unreasonable" and you could make your case in court for damages to your property. |
Anonymous
| Are you downhill from him? If not, how does it flow onto your property? |
Anonymous
| Yes, the side where he has diverted the water is downhill from him. It flows downward to us.. |
Anonymous
| Call/file a complaint with code enforcement. |
Anonymous
Probably little you can do then, unless he's running the gutter extensions to the very end of his property. If the gutter extensions are normal size, just a function of geography. |
Anonymous
In MoCo it has to be at least 6 feet (I think) from your property line. Check the codes where you live. |
Anonymous
| Take pictures, draw maps and send in the complaint to housing code enforcement. Call 311 to get the address. I am in the middle of doing this right now. They will not talk to you on the phone, only way to go is a letter. |
Anonymous
| Get Solange to Beat his A*** |
Anonymous
| Call the county. You can't just change the drainage flow with out permits. |