Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania
My son broke the outer pane of my neighbors window. My husband and I install and service windows for a living, so we can fix the window for around $50. She wants a whole new window and wants us to give her $500. Are we responsible for a new window, or can we fix it to the condition it was in before it was cracked?
1 Answer from Attorneys
1. From a strictly legal perspective, depending on the facts, & your relationship with the neighbor, your son may be responsible to repair the window, but not you. You're not necessarily responsible for the negligence (if it was) of your son. So if your son is sued, & assuming he has no money, the neighbor will collect nothing.
2. Even if you're legally responsible, and/or feel a moral obligation to pay for the damage, the neighbor is only able to collect the reasonable amount to repair the window. That may be more than it would cost you, but also likely less than $500. Perhaps you can propose to the neighbor to get another window repair person to give a true estimate (see #3 below), which both you & neighbor can agree to.
3. You may not want to do the repair since you may never make the neighbor happy & it will be a continual problem for you. Good luck!
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