Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Mudslides from a neighbors property
We live on 5 acres in a rural area of Riverside County.
Someone bought the property kitty-corner to us-on a hill.
He graded the whole property minus 30%. After the last heavy rains in Jan/Feb the runoff ran onto our property causing large ruts, holes and washout on the back part of our property and thru our culvert onto the front of our property. When approached in a very nice way about this damage he became extremely verbally abusive and I won't repeat what he said. It boiled down to it's our fault for
living below him. He does not have any culverts on his property to divert the flow of water. How did this get
approved by the county????? He in turn now calls the county
on us for every violation known to man. He calls either
the office of animal control on us, sometimes several times
a day and screams into thier phones about us. So the county
comes out to our home and tags us for everything. WHen we
call the county about his obvious violations, no one calls us back. We went to a land attorney the other day and his
minimum charge is $20,000.00 to sue this jerk!! Sorry, I
don't have that much laying aroung. A civil suit for the
damage done to our property & harrassment too? HELP!!!!
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Mudslides from a neighbors property
The landowner above your property is responsible for any damage to your property caused by water flowing from his property onto yours. I would suggest that you speak with another real estate attorney near your home to see if someone else might be willing to take your case with some other billing arrangements.
While $20,000 may seem like a lot of money to pay to enforce your rights, allowing this situation to continue could cost you far more to repair the damage being caused by your neighbor.
Re: Mudslides from a neighbors property
The general law on this in California is that an uphill neighbor is not liable to the downhill neighbor for natural runoff, but when the natural character of the uphill land is altered, the uphill neighbor is liable for his negligence in carrying out the alterations.
Your lawyer will have to plead and prove (1) negligent improvements or alterations, and (2) damage to you resulting from the same.
Preparing and prosecuting the suit would entail (in addition to drafting, filing and serving a summons and complaint) discovery and, probably, expert testimony on (1) why the uphill work was negligent, and (2) the dollar amount of damage done or likely to be done to your property.
Adding a claim or claims to the suit regarding the harassment is possibe, but especially if you asked for a TRO or preliminary injunction would increase the legal fees.
Having said all this, a $20,000 up-front retainer seems quite excessive. It should be possible to conduct the whole case, right through jury trial, for about this amount.
I suggest you shop around for a more reasonable attorney.
Re: Mudslides from a neighbors property
$20,000 is not unreasonable, considering the amount of work involved in preparing and presenting this type of case for trial. This probably does NOT include the cost of experts, which can be substantial. In addition, the damage to your property could easily exceed $20,000.
Forget the county -- your neighbor is entitled to make whatever claims he wants. If the county acts on his claims, then there's not a whole lot you can do, if in fact, your property is not in compliance. If you complain to the county about him, and nothing is being done, then either they are not taking you seriously, or your neighbor's property is otherwise in compliance. Nevertheless, getting at your neighbor via the county is probably not the best approach.
The law concerning land use, water rights, and damage to neighboring properties, is likely favorable to you in this situation. Based upon the facts as you have relayed them, your neighbor is liable for any damage he has caused to your property, and in addition, you may be able to compel him to construct the necessary improvements on his property to assure that your property is not damaged in the future.
I suggest you contact an attorney familiar with real property litigation and/or land use litigation. We are real property litigators, and if/when you are ready to proceed, you should feel free to call or email us.
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