Doug & Suzy’s Landslide Nightmare-Lawsuits Abound

Our brother Doug, who has served in both our communities and at the state level for over 35 years in law enforcement, and his wife Suzy should be enjoying semi-retirement, but instead they are dealing with a dreadful situation.  The house they intended to retire in was lost to a landslide in the summer of 2018.

Between June 14th and June 19th, the land behind their home dropped 30 feet. Within days, they along with two other families were advised they would have to move out of their homes.  By August the home was condemned, and they were told they would never be able to return to their home.  By October their home was demolished.  In Pennsylvania insurance does not cover landslides, engineering error, contractor error, or developer error.  As a result, the homeowners insurance company denied all claims while the bank continued to demand payment regardless of the situation.   Throughout this entire process they were assured they would “not be left hanging” by said engineers, contractors, and developers. However, to date they have incurred mounting attorney fees already approaching $30,000 as they continue to pay on a mortgage for a house that doesn’t exist on a piece of property that can never again be built on. 

While they remain hopeful for a settlement, Pennsylvania Law does not allow them to request/recover attorney’s fees or pain and suffering in this type of case.  As a result, even if a full settlement is reached, they will suffer a significant financial loss.  Their attorney has advised it will cost an additional $30,000 - $60,000 to pursue a settlement in the case.

After a year of legal actions and attempts to resolve the matter, they are no closer to the settlement they seek.  Multiple attempts have been made to resolve the matter; however, the engineers, developers, builder, and the Township have not been willing to accept an adequate level of responsibility to settle the matter out of court.  It seems as though the involved parties, the insurance companies, and their high-powered attorneys are more interested in dragging this out to create even more anguish and financial loss for the families involved than settling the case.    

As a result, they are incurring massive amounts of debt with attorney’s fees and living expenses.  Hopefully this effort will ease some of the financial burden as they proceed with their case against all parties.  Although this is not the path they would have chosen, they are left with no other choice.

We would be infinitely grateful for any help that can be provided.

Sincerely,

Siblings Sue, Mark, Rick and Jason