At the time of the original post, I had already sent the first certified letter (attempted encroachment, damage to my property and contractor who dropped the F bomb every time I politely but firmly asked him to stop damaging my property).
In early March 2019, a second certified letter was sent detailing the plumbing issues outlined above and the likely cause (their major construction). They sent a response essentially saying too bad and lied about the encroachment. I limped along barely being able to use my plumbing but still not pulling the trigger on the lawsuit. I just could not see me suing anyone.
Nov 2019 — had a more significant sewer back-up. Alerted neighbors immediately. Response? More “not it”. After several days of having to shower at the gym and use local businesses for their restrooms over the Thanksgiving holiday, I walked a plumber over to their home to explain in a patient and detailed way the probable impact to their home by not working with me to fix the damage they caused. They would not budge except to hint that they might pay half of the emergency fix. (Meanwhile, they told the plumber to charge me 75 percent and them 25 percent?). At this point, I start to get more firm that we need to work on this. Their response? Have an attorney friend of their Dad’s write me what I can only call an “attempted bullying” letter —along the lines of “don’t mess with me, I am a very good lawyer” but then used the a very strange argument as to why his “client” should not have to fix the sewer. That was, “my client should not have to pay because he did not know he bought a house with a shared sewer”. Weird. And, at this point, I do file a small claims lawsuit. They promptly file for an extension of the court date to 11/2020.
Spring 2020 — I back-up again, but I just wait it out this time. (At this point, I know they are prone to lying and was pretty sure they were backing up every time I did). About 3 weeks later, I notice plumbing work being done on their home. I send a photo of this to them asking for an explanation as i have provided them with copies of all of the work I have had done and what the plumbers were suggesting we needed to do. I see no plumbing trick in the vicinity when work was happening. I do know they forced the contractor to fix (demonstrating that the issue was indeed due to their construction). They refuse to provide the details on any of the work done. (I suspect they did the bare minimum which is going to hurt both of us).
So, as of now, I have not had full use of my sewer for 1.5 years and counting. Could not list my house last Summer without taking a big loss because of this and am still having to do laundry at a laundromat during a pandemic.
I’d love any additional ideas, but I am mostly posting this in case someone else is considering being nice and trying to help educate neighbors while postponing your own use and enjoyment of your property. Small claims was very easy to file and was the only thing that started to get their attention. Makes me sad to say thins as I never wanted to sue anyone.
Hope you all are safe and well and thank you for all of the good guidance.
