Neighborly Damages - Clogged Pipe
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Question
My neighbor has a balcony whose floor is my ceiling. There is a clog in the drainage pipe of his balcony, so when there is heavy rain, his balcony becomes a pool, and the water seeps into my ceiling and home. The clog in the pipe is due to the roots of trees and plants from my yard. No one knows where the end of the pipe is or where it drains, so we have no way to prevent it from being clogged by our roots. Repairing the pipe to a state where there will be no problem with the roots costs a considerable amount of money. Who should pay? Thank you very much.
Answer
Hello,
The neighbors should share the payment.
Even though the roots come from your garden, you are not considered a 'damager' because the roots grow on their own and over a long period of time.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat, Siman 155, Se'if 32
If someone has a tree in his field near his neighbor's pit (or wants to plant one) (Tur), the owner of the pit cannot prevent him and say: "The roots of the tree enter my pit and cause me damage," because this is damage that comes on its own after some time, and at the time of planting it does not cause damage, and just as this one digs in his own property, so too this one plants in his own.