Rowhome Property Damage Attorneys Serving Chester County, PA

Often more than one party: the contractor doing the work, the developer or owner who hired them, and sometimes an engineer or the party's insurer. Pennsylvania law also puts duties on an excavating owner toward the adjoining property. Sorting out who pays starts with the permits, plans, and an assessment of what physically caused the damage.

Photograph everything with dates, keep any earlier photos of the same areas, write down when you first noticed each problem, and report it in writing rather than by phone. If the work next door is permitted, the filings are public. Do not sign a release or accept a repair check before someone has looked at the full extent of the damage.

No. Homeowners policies often exclude earth movement while still covering other causes, and how the loss is characterized frequently decides the claim. We review the policy language against what actually happened, and we handle the bad-faith side of these disputes as well.

Yes, an old lien, a missing heir's signature, or a boundary discrepancy can hold up a closing indefinitely until it's resolved through a negotiated release, a quiet title action, or litigation.

Often yes. A professional survey combined with a negotiated agreement between neighboring owners resolves most boundary disputes without litigation, we reserve court action for cases where a fair resolution isn't otherwise realistic.

A sheriff sale is typically the final step in a foreclosure or judgment-collection process, and by the time it's scheduled, options for stopping it narrow significantly. Speaking with an attorney as early as possible preserves the most options.

Residential tenancies are heavily protected by state and municipal landlord-tenant statutes, while commercial leases are governed almost entirely by their own negotiated terms. That difference changes which arguments are available to either side.

Chester County sits in Chester County, so a state court matter goes to the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, at 2 North High Street in West Chester. Federal claims are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Chester County is corporate campuses along the Route 202 corridor alongside preserved farmland. Whatever the matter, it is filed and heard in West Chester, though an initial case review does not happen at the courthouse. Court appearances come later, and not every matter reaches one.

Often without going to court. A professional survey combined with a negotiated agreement between neighboring owners resolves most boundary disputes, and in a county with this much preserved farmland the recorded line and the fence line frequently disagree by more than either owner expected. We reserve court action for cases where a fair resolution is not otherwise realistic.

The lease itself, mostly. Commercial leases are governed almost entirely by their own negotiated terms, unlike residential tenancies, which are heavily protected by state and municipal landlord-tenant statutes. For the corporate campuses along the Route 202 corridor, that means the answer usually turns on clauses negotiated years earlier rather than on a general standard, so the document is the first thing we read.

Photograph everything with dates, keep any earlier photos of the same areas, and write down when you first noticed each problem. Report it in writing rather than by phone. If the work next door is permitted, the filings are public and the plans can be pulled. Do not sign a release or accept a repair check before someone has looked at the full extent of the damage.