I have been living in my house since 1994. Shortly after every snowfall the snow that has accumulated on the neighboring house's roof slides off and falls into my driveway. This basically causes me to clean my driveway twice with each snowfall. Quite a few years ago I had sent a letter to the owner of record and offered to pay for 50% of the cost to purchase snow guards to stop the snow from falling. I have not heard anything back from him. Every winter I have to play games with finding a place to park my car and my wife's car so the snow does not fall onto the cars. One year I wasn't so lucky and snow/ice fell onto my car and damaged it. My insurance covered the damage and called it an act of God. I am convinced that if the snow were to fall onto someone they would be seriously injured. I have called city hall (I live in Lowell) and they said that there is nothing they can do. What difference is there between my situation and someone deliberately throwing snow onto my cleaned driveway? In my opinion the snow falling off of the roof next door denies me my right to enjoy my property. Is there anything I can do or do I simply have to suck it up for as long as I live in my house?
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 18:02
Posted in
Nuisance
I think you have a legitimate complaint. Since your neighbor is not open to discussing the matter with you, I would talk to a MA attorney and ask her to write a letter to the neighbor. Sometimes, a well drafted letter from a lawyer is enough to encourage neighbors to become more cooperative. And, if I'm wrong and you have no recourse against the neighbor, the attorney will be able to verify that with a bit of research. Good luck.