The other end of the drain was stuffed with crushed leaves that should take the water out the back of his property. But even where his drain is positioned it's not getting ANY of the water from his driveway. It's ALL flowing onto my property. I even pulled the leaves he had packed in, but his drain is only taking the the rain from the sky.

Well, I'm a lawyer, so I know how I would handle this if it were my property. Since you say you can't afford a lawyer, which is totally understandable, you could consider filing suit against him in small claims court. By the way, some plaintiff's lawyers (the lawyers who sue people, not the ones who defend) will take cases on a contingency fee (they get a percentage of whatever you get) and you don't have to pay anything, but I doubt this case is worth enough for anyone to take it on contingency.

I don't know where you live or the laws in your state, but here in the Texas/Oklahoma area, small claims courts work very much like "people's court" and the judge tends to side with whoever he thinks is in the right. If you want to go that route, I would start with documenting the crap out of the situation. I would take lots of photos, start making a record of your interactions, and even formally send your neighbor a letter (go old school certified mail to prove he got it) explaining the situation, how it's harming your property, that he's encroaching on your property line, and if he doesn't remedy the situation, you're going to seek help from the court.

The key here is you need to show you gave him notice of what was happening so he can't claim he had no idea his property was doing that and you need to have proof you were actually damaged in some way. Be prepared to come up with a dollar amount that would repair the damage. Maybe get an estimate from a landscape company for how to rebuild the eroded areas of your yard. Above all, keep clean hands. In other words, don't go retaliating or doing anything sneaky on his property in the meantime.

No, but I thought the other drain he had would take some of the water from both driveways, but it's not, so I'm getting it all.

These drainage issues can be difficult to understand without walking the site, which we cannot do. Therefore, if people are going to understand them, you need to provide good information. In this case, that would be at least a plan of both lots and arrows showing where water runs and indicating the problem spots. We can't know these thing from just a few words. Then we need to know where the water should be running if things were done properly. Where the neighbor has created an offense, just showing the end of a pipe means nothing. We would need to see the grade in the whole area surrounding the offense and be instructed on how it was created.

Some things you might also think about are, 1. where is the water from the neighbor's property SUPPOSED to go if things were working properly? and 2. where is the water from your property supposed to go? Drainage of both yards is occurring in the context of an overall drainage plan for the neighborhood. It is completely normal for water to run from one yard to the next. It's only a bad thing if it happens in undesirable ways.

Thank you so much for your very informative answer. My neighbor told me the I had a drainage system running the length of my driveway and back of my house to handle both driveways. I called the original homeowner and he told me that system broke 25 years ago and I informed my neighbor of that fact. I knew I had to put a new drainage system in, but waited to see if he was going to put one in for his side of the driveways. I didn't realize the extent of the erosion on my hillside until I tried to walk down it and the earth just gave way and realized it was much worse than I thought and unsafe. For 25 years, the drainage did come onto and drain out on my property. I have no doubt in my mind that I bought a neighbor problem when I bought this house eleven years ago.

I do have a video as I've been documenting everything since the discovery of the drainage pipe that runs the length of his property, but I'm afraid to post it/them as I'm awaiting to see if I qualify for legal aid or pro bono and I fear posting them online might interfere and make that evidence inadmissible.

Like you stated, "In a perfect world" Your neighbors would be honest and responsible for the drainage on their property and not divert it onto and into yours in order to keep his/hers perfect.

I don't have all of the info you requested and I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the information you've given me.

Thank you so much for your help!

To CF:

I started documenting everything from the day he had a fit over the trench I was marking to dig with an edger with the intent of pouring concrete to stop the underground diversion. He wanted me to move it over a foot or two and I stood up to him and told him NO. I didn't have a backbone when I moved here, but his underhanded, illegal diversions and disregard for my property and his theft of my property has given me one.

He's the reason I found out he stole 3" of my property. I wouldn't care about 3 stinking inches if he was an honest person that respected my property. He told me that my new drain pipe from my deck was illegal because it went into the sewer system. I called the borough to see if my pipe was as he said. I told him that I will remedy the situation immediately if it's true because I don't do anything illegal.

I called the borough and they came out and said it was illegal and I fixed it the next day so that the rain drains on my driveway now. I showed the inspector his illegal pipe and he had to cap it off with a legal cap. He told the man it was illegal to divert his water in any way shape or form onto my property. I had my property survey and that's when I found out that 3" of his driveway and yard is mine. The inspector informed him that I have a right to sue him for the damage to my property and could possibly have him remove those 3" of his driveway. A screaming match ensued on the first inspector visit and I told my neighbor I never want to speak to him. After the inspector came back to approve both of our illegal things, I asked him to document both visits and I'm waiting for that documentation.

The day I moved in he didn't introduce himself. He said to me in a nasty voice, " This is not a communal driveway! That is yours and this is mine!" Now I know why there was no property flag on that side of my back yard. I asked the inspector to return those unkind words that he spoke to me eleven years ago. He's elderly now and I told him when I quit shoveling my driveway that he could use it to get traction in the snow going up it and he has used it. I didn't care.

I've been spending 8-10 hours a day all summer trying to garden and fix my yard. He told the inspector that my problem was that I needed a hobby. So, I took up photography and have been taking pictures almost daily along with videos during and after it rains. I also took a picture in Feb. when he shoveled a path through my snow and into my yard.

Thank you for every bit of advice you've given me. I am documenting and I'll call landscapers to get an estimate. I live in PA and have been trying to find the Civil Law of Drainage and am even waiting for the EPA to call me back. I even called the police and filed a report, but they wouldn't take it for theft of property.

I've turned the other cheek and have gone above and beyond "Loving and Forgiving your Neighbor" and have helped them in so many ways that I just can't do it anymore. I ended up in an ambulance and stayed overnight in the hospital in Feb. because I finally stood up to him. It'll kill me not to help them anymore, but he has outright taken advantage of my kindness for the last time.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the time you took to write to me and all the advice you given me. I'm feeling better and grateful to you for giving me the tools and pointing me in the right direction for this disgusting situation.

I wish peace for you in your life. Thanks a million times over!