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Updated over 3 years ago on . Most recent reply

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63
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John Sharpe
  • Crestline, CA
70
Votes |
63
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Possible to sue negligent owner of criminal-infested property?

John Sharpe
  • Crestline, CA
Posted

The house next door is owned by elderly couple (in a living trust) who live a couple hours away and bought the very nice house several years ago for their brain-fried and/or druggie divorced adult son to have a place to live.

It's literally a drug house, well documented legally, and infamous in our community. The druggie son seems to lock himself in one room (he's rarely lucid) and a bunch of drug-dealing criminals have pretty much taken over the large house, with or without the son's permission. The other neighbors and myself work very closely with the exasperated law enforcement, but there's not a lot they can do (not trying to make this post about CA's lax drug laws, squatters' rights etc).

I've been in contact with the elderly owners several times and made it clear that their property is a huge problem for our neighborhood and local law enforcement. They have almost no contact with their son living in the house but are aware of all the problems.  However they don't do anything at all, and aren't even able or willing to travel to the property to see it. The amount of liability they're taking on by allowing this criminal flop house to continue seems astounding to me, but maybe they feel protected since the house is owned by a living trust.

With this really being unbearable, the drug trafficking at all hours, and the house looks terrible in our neighborhood of nice homes, so the other neighbors and I are wondering if we can sue the owners?

The intent here is not to get money from the elderly owners, but to maybe prod them into selling the house or taking some minimal amount of care for it. Does anyone know about lawsuits against negligent owners of crime-infested properties in CA? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Most Popular Reply

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Mary M.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Portland OR
3,369
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2,879
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Mary M.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Portland OR
Replied

so i hate to be the downer here, but honestly its NOYB and an atty is probably going to tell you you have no standing to sue.....  you are basically complaining that your property values are declining....    you clearly have no concern for the people involved, just your homes value......  I can see why the police dont do much.    If it is such a problem you have a couple choices: sell and go elsewhere....  or talk to the parents which will probably get you nowhere. IMO you cant change the world to suit your likes and dislikes in general so maybe moving might be a good idea? 

And, I dont mean any of the above in a "mean" way - just as someone who has dealt with similar - i sold my home and moved.....  solved my problem perfectly and I didnt have to rely on anyone else. 

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