Update time and a question for military members on next steps:
Recap:
•Neighbor attempted to encroach in 2018 during a major construction project (after much effort got that to stop)
•Neighbor broke the sewer line in early 2019 toward the end of their construction causing back-up into my home.
•I notified neighbor of break/back-up via certified letter (they moved out during construction). I indicated urgency to fix. (Clean out is on their property so needed cooperation)
•They replied with a “not it” response and denied the encroachment and other items establishing a pattern of shady behavior. They stopped responding after that.
•2nd back-up occurred a few months later – they were warned this would happen if we did not address. They lied and said they did not back-up when I did and tried to hide in their house when I came to notify them.
•I walked a very nice plumber over to their house to help them understand the risk to their home and mine. They acted like they were going to cooperate, but lied to the plumber and told him to charge me for the clearing of the line and refused to discuss the actual fix of the line.
•Then, they had a lawyer send me a threatening letter to tell me to put in my own sewer line as they were not aware they purchased a home with a shared sewer line??!? (I had tracked down all of the estimates for them on the fix, contacted my insurance company for ideas on how they could get help on paying for the fix). The idea to approach their contractor worked.
•At this point, I filed a small claims suit
•They push out the court day as far as they can and then Covid hits.
*Several months later, I see someone working on the sewer line. The neighbors only confirm this is happening after multiple requests and FINALLY admit that their construction broke the line. However, they refuse to provide the kind of proof that would allow me to rent a room, refinance or sell my home without taking a big hit.
•I engage the mediator to help on our dispute. They have another attorney send me a threatening letter saying I am harassing them by asking them politely to provide proof of fix. (It took me months to find a reputable plumber that would fix for 3k versus the initial 10k quote). The neighbors somehow did a fix for $600. I’d love to believe this was an actual fix, but with all of the shady behavior, it seems very unlikely.
•After I set the neighbor’s attorney straight on who has done what and that I am not trying to hurt his clients, the neighbors start acting like they were work with the mediator, but have gone dark again.
If you are still with me, the question I have is related to next steps. 2 former military members have advised me to go to the CO of the neighbor. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s employment. They have assured me that this would not hurt the neighbor’s employment and that this will get the fastest response, but I’d like to hear from other military members first to be sure.
Thank you if you read all of this. And, thank you even more if you have some ideas on this.
