Long story short, the next door is a retailer shop, and the building has no eavesdrops, which results in rain leakage to my basement, especially in summer. I met the tenant of the next door and an officer of the town last year, and we agreed that extending the concrete layer to direct water away from my foundation is the best option.

However, when I brought it up this spring, the tenant don't want to share the cost (the estimated cost is about $2000), and the owner don't want to talk about it, and he asked the tenant not to release his contact info to me. (According to his tenant, the owner is 80 years old, and he has hearing issue.) So, I asked the officer to tell me the contact info of the owner, but he said he doesn't know it, and even if he knows, he can't release it to me.

It is really frustrating, and I don't know what is the next step. I googled the owner's name, but I can't find his contact info. Is there any way to get someone's phone number? And, what I should do to make the owner of the next door to talk to me?

Thanks a lot.

Shane

Do a title search for the owner. Most provinces now have this online, based on address. Some are still archaic but you can go to the land titles office and do a manual search. If the owner is a corporation, look up the corporate directory for that firm, which shows owners and the director(s).

Continue the dialog, in ever escalating firmer language. If this doesn't go anywhere, send a letter, politely first, then more sternly. Then a letter from a lawyer. Then, if unanswered, go to small claims court.

The question is: "Is it worth it" as the problem is small and the legal avenue expensive, although you can go to small claims court yourself.

So, I'd fix the problem myself, if you can (i.e. on your own property), keep records then send them a bill for 50% of it. If they do not answer within a reasonable period of time, I'd go to small claims court as you can do it without a lawyer.

Hi, Thomas. Thank you for you quick reply. I did go to registry to get the title. Unfortunately, it only showed the name of the owner, but no contact information. I will try online title search to see if there is any difference from the one I got from registry.

I will try to fix it by myself, and then send a bill to the neighbor later. Thank you for your suggestion.

ThomasBeyer said:

Do a title search for the owner. Most provinces now have this online, based on address. Some are still archaic but you can go to the land titles office and do a manual search. If the owner is a corporation, look up the corporate directory for that firm, which shows owners and the director(s).

Continue the dialog, in ever escalating firmer language. If this doesn't go anywhere, send a letter, politely first, then more sternly. Then a letter from a lawyer. Then, if unanswered, go to small claims court.

The question is: "Is it worth it" as the problem is small and the legal avenue expensive, although you can go to small claims court yourself.

So, I'd fix the problem myself, if you can (i.e. on your own property), keep records then send them a bill for 50% of it. If they do not answer within a reasonable period of time, I'd go to small claims court as you can do it without a lawyer.

Click to expand...

Good advice above. In the meantime, fix the darn eves unless you're fond of water in your basement. Expect to be awarded $0 through court and never find the owner, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised and get a few bucks out of the old guy if you can find him. Either way, stop the bleeding.