California | Real Estate Law
Legal Question
During a rain storm water from a HOA maintained slope overflowed a retaining wall and mud got in my pool. Each of the previous two winters the samething would have happened, but i was lucky enough to spot the water building up and reported it before it was able to overflow the wall. 2 of the 3 times I have seen the water build up was on the weekend when maintenance workers are not around. The HOA won't pay, they say it's an act of god and the drain was overwhelmed. However, the drain is very powerful and if it's kept clear it can more than handle the water. I have video to demonstrate the power of the drain, as they unclogged it and I have emails reporting the issue twice in the past, where rainfall totals were less than this storm. A land investor is in control of the HOA, if it was a normal HOA situation I am sure I would not have this dispute. What do you think my odds are of winning in small claims court? Also, can I sue for loss of use of my pool? These are million dollar homes and my yard cost 130K. HOA dues are $181 per month. Oh, also since I threatened to sue I now see sand bags around the drain and see them using leaf blowers to clear out the V-ditch that is behind the retaining wall. To me this is further proof that they did not properly maintain the drain and v-ditches, which lead to the clog and flood. Also, we are talking about build up of 10's of thousands of gallons of water before it can overflow the wall...so this would take many hours to occur. There was enough water back there when this happened that a person could have swam under the water. Thanks for your help. - Matt
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