City Alley Stormwater Coming Into My Home

J

Jaime Angst

New Member
**No idea which forum to post this in. Please move or let me know which one is best if this one shouldn't be used**

Hello –

I have water leaking into my city basement home. I have done numerous repairs and attempts to lead the water away from my home but realize that I cannot control this without the city properly maintaining their alley. The cement alley has numerous cracks throughout and has an old drainage pipe that is broken and no longer works. All storm water and sump pumps from the surrounding homes lead to my home and get into the basement. I have asked for help over the years and the city did replace a 4 foot by 4-foot cement pad, years ago, but the problem has returned. The cement pad has cracks again and the entire alley needs to be maintained to avoid water coming into my home. I have asked for help numerous times but have been denied. This has led to me delaying renting my home and now, I am unable to rent the property after May 1st, 2020. I have and will be losing a lot of income and the city will not help me. I need to know my legal rights and what I can do to get this resolved. If suing the city is what I need to do, I need to seriously investigate that.

Thank you
 
I don't think we have a specific forum for this so I'll leave it here. We all read all the forums anyway.

Jaime Angst said:
If suing the city is what I need to do, I need to seriously investigate that.
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Yeah, I think you will seriously need to investigate that.

Consult an attorney who specializes in suing government entities.
 
For those who wish to know, our OP appears to be posting from the state of MD.
 
When suing a municipality, one needs to make a timely claim. I don't know the time frame in MD, but, and only as an example, California is 6 months. If one does not make a timely claim, then a lawsuit is barred.
 
Zigner said:
When suing a municipality, one needs to make a timely claim. I don't know the time frame in MD, but, and only as an example, California is 6 months. If one does not make a timely claim, then a lawsuit is barred.
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I believe it is one year under the Tort Claims Act.
 
I disagree. The city acknowledged the problem by replacing the concrete and now that the problem has become so severe that OP can't rent, he should file a tort claim notice and see what happens.
 
welkin said:
I disagree. The city acknowledged the problem by replacing the concrete and now that the problem has become so severe that OP can't rent, he should file a tort claim notice and see what happens.
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He can file a claim, but he will have a tough row to hoe.
 

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