Dispute with neighbor over automatic garage door opener

[neummy]

Hello!

I installed my garage door opener about eight years ago. Since then, as far as I know, the remotes for that opener have never operated anyone's garage door opener other than my own.

Two weeks ago I noticed that my remotes will sometimes open my next door neighbor's garage door. I notified my neighbor of this observation, we did some tests, and confirmed that this would happen about every 2 to 10 times I operate my remote.

My neighbor explained that he lost the original remotes for his opener and reprogrammed his opener with some "universal" remotes just before the time I noticed his door opening intermittently when I clicked my own remote.

He tried several times to reprogram his opener with different code settings on the "universal" remotes, and even tried reprogramming his opener with a different set of remotes, but none of this resolved the issue that began two weeks ago.

I called the manufacturer of my own automatic opener to ask if there's something that can be reprogrammed on my equipment, and they said no.

Now my neighbor seems to think I am responsible for replacing either his garage door opener or my own.

I've been minding my own business with the same automatic garage door opener, having made no changes to it, for eight years. Suddenly my neighbor makes a change to his opener that causes a problem, and he expects me to assume the expense to put things back to the way they were?!

Questions

Who's problem is this?

Can my neighbor successfully sue me if his garage door is left open and, as a result, he is burglarized?

I live in Minneapolis, MN, USA.

 

[neummy]

> Whose problem is this?
>
> Can my neighbor successfully sue me if his garage door is left open and, as
> a result, he is burglarized?

Questions too tough? Anyone have an opinion?

 

[marishouse]

I think your neighbor has to contact the company that made his remote. He caused the problem, he needs to resolve it. Keep nothing valuable in your garage. I'd also keep a date and time log, or hate to say this but you could just buy a new garage door opener. Consider it an upgrade. Keep your receipts so you have proof of when you bought it and don't tell your neighbor.

 

[neummy]

Thanks for your response, but that doesn't resemble legal advice.

Are there any lawyers surfing these forums? This seemed to me to be an interesting question; I just wanted to know, considering the circumstances, whether I could be held responsible in a civil suit if my neighbor's garage is burglarized. I've always seen to it that my own garage and its contents are quite well secured.

Anyway, the issue has since been resolved. My neighbor purchased some new equipment and now his automatic opener no longer accepts codes from my remotes. Luckily there were no thefts from his garage during all of this.

 

[WebJunkie]

IMHO, he made the change, so he is responsible for fixing it.

If I made it so my front door popped open when you flushed your toilet, there is no way you should be expected to not flush your toilet while I'm away on vacation, or to make sure you always 'flush twice' to ensure my front door closes again.

Now, if you were tinkering with electronics and happened upon something which opened my garage door, and my garage was robbed, I'm sure my insurance company would be talking to yours, but you weren't the one who changed the status quo, your neighbor was, so he takes the liability.

 

[pflinstone]

Similar Problem

My neighbors have been friendly to us over the five years we've been living in our home, so it was a surprise when the doorbell rang and our neighbor was visibly upset. With her index finger pointing straight at us and a stern look she explained that we had better destroy our garage door openers or throw them away because they opened their garage door again.

This had happened a couple of months back, and we took it very seriously when it happened. We tried everything to reset the code on our end. We changed the frequency, the code, we synced and re-synced the remotes, changed the batteries and nothing solved the problem. To make sure that we didn't cause any grief for our neighbors who were clearly upset that our garage door opener was opening their garage, we gave the opener to them to keep in their house, even though it still opened our garage too.

In the course of the conversation with the neighbor, he explained how a few months earlier they had issues with their original garage door opener and had to purchase a replacement. I seem to recall that it was a universal remote that they purchased.

Then, a few days later our neighbor returned the opener explaining that they had fixed the issue. I didn't ask questions. I was just happy to get the remote back.

With that context, back to the angry neighbor who now leans forward with finger wagging in our faces explaining that if they were burglarized we would be liable for the damages.

We were stunned. Didn't see this one coming at all, said "We'll take care of it," and promptly found the remote and carried it out to our neighbor who was weeding a flower garden between our houses.

This whole thing got me wondering, so I searched the internet and found this thread. I was glad to see that someone else had written about a similar problem.

I'm in a similar position from a legal perspective. It was my remote that opened their garage door, but I hadn't touched the garage door or the remote since we moved into the house 5 years ago and my neighbor had confessed to me that he had made changes in the recent months.

If their house had been burglarized, I'm sure I would have been defending myself in court. Where do these people come from? Is there a secret portal to and from Bizarro world? If so, it must be here in the Midwest.

 

[neummy]

Pflintstone: Thanks for your story. That's essentially the same scenario I was in, except I've lived next door to these people for over ten years, and we've become quite good friends in that time.

I don't know whether they would actually have come after me if their garage had been burglarized, but they certainly seemed to imply that this was my problem as much as it was theirs.

Anyway, it's all over now, though it did have a detrimental effect on our relationship which could take a while to heal.

Still waiting for a legal opinion on this topic; no longer holding my breath.