Collin County. Small claims court possibly

[Shaddie 1651]

Legal eagles. Is there any such thing as small claims court here in Texas? 
 

Have an asshole neighbor that drains his pool and it flows into my backyard and sits. With all the rain we now have a flooded backyard again. This is 3rd time in about 4 years he has done it. He did it again last night and I went to his house and nobody would answer door. (Not sure if he was home.)

I tried my city government and they came out and took a look and said it was civil stuff. 
 

Does small claims exist in Texas? I have thought about criminal complaint for illegal dumping but I don’t think that would work. Any ideas?

 

[TwiceHorn 31536]

Yes it does.  In two forms, justice of the peace courts and "small claims" courts. Usually the same court exercising different jurisdiction.  Depends on your county.  Can probably Google x county small claims/jp court and see what you've got.

What do you want out of it?  Neither type of court can issue injunctions (orders to stop flooding/take action to stop flooding).  They can only compensate you for your losses as a result of the flooding.  You're gonna need receipts.

[Shaddie 1651]

That is what I was afraid of. I don’t really want compensation. Just quit doing it cause it can really hurt the foundation. That is a time thing that would be impossible to prove it was all his fault. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

Fuck his wife.

[jimmyjazz 46130]

I'm surprised it took 4 posts. ^^^

[That Guy 960]

Then burn his house down. 

[UTPhil2006 3812]

6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I'm surprised it took 4 posts. ^^^

I was gonna wait for the first actual advice before I suggested shitting on his porch 

[Gil Bang 26019]

Tear down that fence!

[BigDHornfan 6550]

strongly worded note?

[blacklab 11951]

get a pump and shoot it back into his pool with the mud it created

[TwiceHorn 31536]

2 hours ago, Shaddie said:

That is what I was afraid of. I don’t really want compensation. Just quit doing it cause it can really hurt the foundation. That is a time thing that would be impossible to prove it was all his fault. 

Well if you're doing anything that costs to remedy it, getting hit with that a couple of times might encourage him to fix it.

[Mittens 8306]

Have some friends here in Austin that had a similar issue.  Along their fenceline, they installed/put/sunk iron plating so the water had nowhere to go and the neighbor had to deal with it. 

[Shaddie 1651]

26 minutes ago, Mittens said:

Have some friends here in Austin that had a similar issue.  Along their fenceline, they installed/put/sunk iron plating so the water had nowhere to go and the neighbor had to deal with it. 

This give me an idea. Try to collect the water in a small area and use a sump pump to spray back in his pool. Would love to see him call the cops on me and explain his complaint. 

[blacklab 11951]

That's a great idea!

[Shaddie 1651]

9 hours ago, blacklab said:

That's a great idea!

Sorry. Didn’t read all post before replying. 

[luke duke 6414]

Tear down that fence!

[Quagmire 2147]

I’d keep knocking on his door till he responds to you first

[torre 1286]

20 hours ago, Shaddie said:

He did it again last night and I went to his house and nobody would answer door. (Not sure if he was home.)

I tried my city government and they came out and took a look and said it was civil stuff. 
 

 

 

Best to give him a chance to respond.

Seems like city government would be concerned water was not drained into a storm or sewer drain due to health concerns, mosquitoes, etc.   May want to readdress the issue with them at the supervisory level.

 

[royiv 9355]

5 minutes ago, torre said:

Best to give him a chance to respond.

Seems like city government would be concerned water was not drained into a storm or sewer drain due to health concerns, mosquitoes, etc.   May want to readdress the issue with them at the supervisory level.

 

Agree with this. I have a neighbor behind me that is a complete moron when it comes to pool maintenance. I contacted the local health department several years ago and they took an interest pretty quickly due to the possibility of mosquito infestation.

The neighbor never answered the door when the health department inspector came to pay a visit, but since the pool can be seen from my bedroom window they used my house to take photos. Over the last several years, they issued multiple citations to the point that it rose to a criminal matter. After a required appearance in front of a judge and threat of criminal penalties, the pool hasn’t been a problem for the last year.

[South Austin 52603]

20 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

Fuck his wife.

This is a delicate legal situation and he should not be handling that pro se.  I will perform those services, and will only charge $485 per hour, with a one-hour minimum charge regardless of how long the services take to perform.

[Handcruser 2805]

This is a delicate legal situation and he should not be handling that pro se.  I will perform those services, and will only charge $485 per hour, with a one-hour minimum charge regardless of how long the services take to perform.

I can film it.

[TXSooner518 2438]

On 6/10/2024 at 4:10 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Yes it does.  In two forms, justice of the peace courts and "small claims" courts. Usually the same court exercising different jurisdiction.  Depends on your county.  Can probably Google x county small claims/jp court and see what you've got.

What do you want out of it?  Neither type of court can issue injunctions (orders to stop flooding/take action to stop flooding).  They can only compensate you for your losses as a result of the flooding.  You're gonna need receipts.

Small claims court got repealed in 2013. Every county has a justice court that handles civil cases up to $20k, but as you note, they can't issue an injunctive order. 

[thunderlounge 7935]

On 6/11/2024 at 12:47 PM, South Austin said:

This is a delicate legal situation and he should not be handling that pro se.  I will perform those services, and will only charge $485 per hour, with a one-hour minimum charge regardless of how long the services take to perform.

What, you think you’re better than your mom?

 

[Shaggy3.0 1695]

On 6/11/2024 at 1:47 PM, South Austin said:

I will perform those services, and will only charge $485 per hour, with a one-hour minimum charge regardless of how long the services take to perform.

dayum.  inflation is bad.  used to be 2 roses--everything covered.

[TwiceHorn 31536]

On 6/13/2024 at 10:51 AM, TXSooner518 said:

Small claims court got repealed in 2013. Every county has a justice court that handles civil cases up to $20k, but as you note, they can't issue an injunctive order. 

Well then haven't been keeping up.  Thanks.

[Bevo 13601]

It's possible that during install I've done something similar without knowing it. The solution for him is to drain the water to his front yard or to the street using a long hose, something like

 

It only costs $20. I assume this is happening in Houston. In Austin it has never rained enough to need to drain due to rain. And at my house, if it did rain that much, I would just let it overflow. I guess another possibility is that he has a sand or DE filter and is backwashing the pool. I never backwash my cartridge system and just need to clean them periodically. There is a new system that came out in California that basically recycles the clean water and is automatic so no backwashing is necessary.

[billfromlaketravis 11522]

They build pools where the backfill doesn’t drain into the street?