Issue with neighbor's slope that is sliding (Los Angeles: for sale, real estate)

[lahomeowner]

My neighbor's slope is about to come down on my property and I don't know how to approach this problem. The wooden fence that has been holding up the slope is about to give and I'm surprised it has help up the slope. I told him to turn off his sprinklers that are located midway between the fence and his house above me. The water isn't necessary since there is no landscaping just dirt. He claims the slope is our property and that we should be taking care of the new retaining wall. My question is then why is his sprinklers on the slope if he thinks its mine. How do you think I should I handle this now that he has just listed the house? I am a new homeowner and need help.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

My question is then why is his sprinklers on the slope if he thinks its mine.

Did you ask your neighbor this question?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

So here's the deal. Problems with drainage and slope stability are geotechnical problems and tend to ignore property lines.

If you don't have controls in place on your side of the line (e.g. retaining walls, french drains, etc) you are in a weak position to deal with your up slope neighbor. Even if he had landscaping the watering would have its impacts. Water will do what it does (seek lower potential energy by moving down hill).

Ah, the joys of hillside / highland living!

(Been there done that ... still am ... )

[California Vagabond]

You'll likely have to do some searching to find it, but there has to be a Los Angeles government office that can provide you with exact information on your property boundaries. Your ownership of a home entitles you to a specific area of land, and the land itself is often worth much more than the structure sitting on top of it.

A professional property surveyor also could help ... but for a price.

I don't know what your relations with your neighbor are like, and if you've taken all available measures to work this out amicably. If you have, and if you're morally certain that the blame is on his side, then you might consider this:

If he's listing the house for sale, he should mention the problem with the slope in the disclosure documents. It's an important issue; the buyer has a right to know about it. Further, I believe the listing agent is obligated to convey her or his knowledge of the home to prospective buyers, too.

You could contact the listing agent, explain your concerns, and assure the agent that you'll be speaking to the next home owner about this. The listing agent (and current home owner) would then know that they would be at significant risk of legal action if they don't take care of the problem before the deal for the house closes.

I emphasize that I regard this as a hard ball tactic, and a difficult pill to introduce in the life of one trying to sell his house. I also am not a real estate expert, and may be mistaken about what has to go in disclosure documents. (Real estate professionals: I hope you'll chime in.)

[Mashi]

What part of town is this?

[comicone999]

I am a licensed insurance agent in California and I'm telling you to get your insurance company involved. They need to know what is going on and they will have adjusters come out and figure out whose property needs to repaired. If it's your neighbor, they can go after his insurance company or if he doesn't have insurance, then they can get him to take care of it.

[Mashi]

Originally Posted by comicone999

I am a licensed insurance agent in California and I'm telling you to get your insurance company involved. They need to know what is going on and they will have adjusters come out and figure out whose property needs to repaired. If it's your neighbor, they can go after his insurance company or if he doesn't have insurance, then they can get him to take care of it.

What if it's his property? Then the insurance company will make HIM pay for it or cancel his coverage. Sounds like a trap to me. How much are they paying you under the table to recommend that to him?

[comicone999]

First of all, they aren't paying me anything. Fine, don't contact the insurance company until a claim happens and see how far that gets you with your the neighbor. The insurance company will pay the claim then if it's the neighbor's property they will go after him or his insurance. If it's HIS property, then at least he knows and hopefully he will be responsible and fix it. Sounds like to have sour grapes about people in the insurance business and you need to be educated about policies, coverages, what agents should tell you when you get a policy regardless of what it's supposed to cover. I run my business ethically and accorance with the Department of Insurance's guidelines. I have no interest in losing my license as it was a pain to get and wasn't really that cheap either. Feel free to contact me directly and I'd be happy to speak with you about whatever problems you've had in the past with insurance agents, as well as any other questions or concerns about my motives for that post.

[DontH8Me]

If my next door neighbor was telling me that I had a bigger portion of property than I thought I had, I would immediately set about to fence in the forfeited land. You can always have some grading work done but fence that sucker in! Plant some macadamia trees, they are great at reducing/preventing erosion. In time, your neighbors will be asking about your nuts, too. Who doesn't like macadamia nuts?

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by Mashi

What if it's his property? Then the insurance company will make HIM pay for it or cancel his coverage. Sounds like a trap to me. How much are they paying you under the table to recommend that to him?

They will have to cover this if it is his fault because of the time line of damage. Even if they drop him they will have to pay. Talk to your ins agent and not strangers on the internet.