Vienna, VA asked in Real Estate Law for Virginia

Q: My condo is repeatedly flood from above. The damage is minor each time but can I sue to stop the bad behavior?

I have a ground level condo. The unit above mine floods abut one a year. One time the ice maker broke. Another time the AC drain clogged. I do not know what happened this time. It has happened 5 times in as many years. I have talked ot the owner and the property manager. They will not offer anything to help out with repairs and think the whole thing is a joke.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Richard Sternberg
Richard Sternberg
Answered
  • Potomac, MD
  • Licensed in Virginia

A: You are certainly entitled to damages when your neighbor's water escapes into your unit, but the damages would be the repairs and, perhaps, related, proximately caused damages, like replacing incidentally damaged property. If that leaking water somehow killed you, those damages could get fairly serious. But, once they fix the damages, you'd only be entitled to more if it was an intentional trespass. What was the "bad behavior?" It reads that the equipment broke and leaked. Even if it should have been maintained more diligently, that is quite a long shit to being "bad."

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