[Neighbors] Update on Damaged Wall on Royal

[mmsimon at earthlink.net]

Hi Neighbors,

This is just a briefing for those who want to know what's going on.

 

We've been in contact with one of the lawyers working with the owners of the
house and he said the auto insurance of the driver will pay for the repair.
He has some bids and is putting things together. When? No one can say, but
at least the neighborhood will not have to be involved--if all goes as
planned.

 

Take care,

Marilou Simon

 

 

 

From: Neighbors <neighbors-bounces at lj-estates.com> On Behalf Of Sanders,
John via Neighbors
Sent: Friday, November 26, 2021 9:10 PM
To: neighbors at lj-estates.com
Subject: [Neighbors] Damage to Neighborhood Wall from Car Wreck Last Night

 

Hi neighbors-You may have noticed today that our neighborhood wall was
substantially damaged overnight.  The section that was hit is on Joe and
Roxanne Underwood's property at Royal and St. Lazare.  Their property is
located adjacent to Royal in between St. Lazare and the St. Lazare/Bushire
alley.  I came upon the crash site around 1:00 am this morning.  At that
time, there were no police or fire personnel on scene, nor were there any
witnesses.  The damaged wall section was clearly visible, along with a
four-door SUV, which had come to rest in the alley with all airbags
deployed.  I called 911 and police and fire immediately responded.  I did
not get a chance to speak to the officers and do not know whether an
individual was still in the car.  I'm not sure if the accident happened
because the driver swerved to avoid something, was drunk, or distracted.  My
suspicion is that the person fled on foot after the accident because there
was no one around that I could see.  I'll be obtaining the police report
next week, which will contain more details and specifics on the car involved
and the owner.

 

The damage to the neighborhood wall brings up a few issues.  I'm unsure who
actually owns the wall.  If it belongs to the homeowner whose property is
adjacent to that section of the wall, then Roxanne has a claim against the
driver.  But I know that Joe recently died and Roxanne has some diminished
capacity.  Many of you recently helped Roxanne transition to assisted
living, so it is very likely that her family does not know of the accident
and the damage to her property.  Does someone have contact info for her
family so that I can reach out and let them know what happened and offer to
help them go after the driver's insurance to repair our wall?

 

It may turn out that the police report shows that no driver was present and
if the owner fled to avoid police scrutiny, it is very probable that the
owner will claim that the car was stolen, which will leave Roxanne's family
without recourse against the driver and their insurance I believe.  

 

To the extent that the wall is a community asset, I'd appreciate those who
were involved with the previous wall project to weigh in and confirm.  If
so, I'm happy to chase down the claim against the driver and get their
insurance to rebuild the broken section, although we could still run into a
dead end if the driver fled and claims the car was stolen.

 

To the extent that the wall is Roxanne's property, or to the extent we run
into a dead end going after the driver, my fear is that we may need to step
up as neighbors and pool some money together to repair the wall.  I doubt
her family will want to make an insurance claim on her insurance, and
frankly I'm not sure if a community wall would be covered by a homeowners'
policy, but I'm no insurance expert.  

 

Anyways, welcome everyone's comments.  Hopefully this is something we can
get solved and corrected expeditiously.

 

Best,

 

John

 

 


John C.C. Sanders, Jr.


Partner


Winston & Strawn LLP
2121 North Pearl Street, Suite 900
Dallas, TX 75201


D: +1 214-453-6462


F: +1 214-453-6400


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