Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Maryland
Loss of Use of Property
A neighbors 19x32 two story shed collapsed while under construction due to faulty construction and landed on my property. The homeowner refused to move the collapsed structure off my property for six weeks. The collapsed structure lies in a close proximity to my children's outdoor play area which they have not had the use of for six weeks. How do you come up with a dollar figure for the loss of use of this portion of my property?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Loss of Use of Property
It would be virtually impossible to put a dollar value on the loss of use of non-commercial property. I assume from your question that the neighbor finally removed his destroyed shed and you have now regained the use of the property. If you incur any costs to restore the property to its pre-incident status, you could arguably recover those costs in a legal proceeding, but it's questionable whether the amount involved would justify the court action.
Re: Loss of Use of Property
Loss of use is difficult to assess. How many children do you have? How large is your overall property? What is the assessed value of your property? Did you incur costs to remedy the situation? At what point in the process is this matter being discussed? Contact an attorney.