My neighbor doesnt have gutters and its caused $30-60k of damages

[Hannah Hamilton]

Hello BiggerPockets! 

Seriously looking for some help here, I don't know what to do. I purchased a property as a rental, and once moving out all the old owners things I realized there's some foundation and water damage. The cause is the house next door - they're older homes and were built only about 24 inches from one another. Well, that house is in bad condition and semi abandoned, and it doesn't have gutters. The lack of gutters has resulted in my brick exterior wall bowing about 6 inches and the foundation issues as well as water damage to the basement. I had a quote done and its about $30-60k in total damages.

I understand that home insurance only covers water damage/foundation damage if its caused by a sudden incident such as a fallen tree or strong storm. In this case, it's neither. 

What are my options here? Should I file a complaint with the city against my neighbors for the gutters? Can I sue them and have their insurance cover the damages to my property? Am I out of luck? 

Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks! 

[Sergey A. Petrov]

The issue is probably not the house next door, it is most likely lack of proper drainage around your house so the water accumulates/sits around your property instead of flowing away and lack of proper waterproofing to the exterior of the foundation to protect it from water damages