“The construction worker said no, so the inspector left… I was pretty shocked to hear that was considered an inspection.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

I’m a new homeowner in DC and live in a rowhouse (in between to other houses). With all the rain the last few weeks, we noticed a leak in our ceiling. We had a contractor come and check out the roof. He even brought a hose to spray the whole roof to see where the leak was stemming from. Upon testing, he found it was actually the issue is stemming the attached home next door whose roof/chimney isn’t properly sealed. The water comes through their chimney and into our shared wall where it collects and leaks into our house.

That property is vacant but is actively being renovated daily. We tried to look into city records/permits to find the owner and contact information, but the only number listed is for a property manager who has no interest in the issue, will not give us the contact information of the owner, and is mostly unresponsive in our requests to discuss the issue for weeks. We’ve gotten a few text messages here and there saying they will “look into it” or that they “fixed the issue” despite us never having a clear conversation to convey the exact source of the leak. Whatever “fix” they performed did not work because we still have buckets and towels all over to catch lots of water leaking into our house. The property manager said they are renovating the property to sell asap, so perhaps they don’t care to invest in fixing the issue.

Because we could not have a real discussion with the property owner, we eventually called DC’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) who sent an inspector to the house. The inspector’s report said he talked to a construction worker who answered the door at the property and asked if there was a leaky roof. The construction worker said no, so the inspector left… I was pretty shocked to hear that was considered an inspection.

I don’t know what other options I have. I don’t feel it’s right for me to pay to fix my neighbor’s roof (and also don’t have the money), I don’t have my neighbor’s contact information to reach out to them (let alone have their insurance information), and the city didn’t help.

I’m feeling really stuck about what to do next and am afraid the water damage is getting worse. Would appreciate advice from the PoPville community!”