Homeowner
You built your dream home ten years ago on a beautiful site with
a picturesque view of Puget Sound. You were a little uncertain about
the stability of the site, but the contractor assured you that he'd built on similar slopes before, and
the city zoning board had just okayed the area for
residences based on a slope stability study. The bank
which holds your mortgage is threatening to seize
your assets (2 cars, bank account, stock portfolio,
etc.) to make up for the loss of your home and
property, which would leave you and your family
penniless as well as homeless. Naturally, you're
looking for someone else to foot the bill.
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Contractor
You built this house with a design you've used
before on a similar steep slope. You know from a
study at another site that this house design does not add significant weight to the slope such that it
would cause a landslide. You asked the homeowner if
s/he wanted a study done on this site, but s/he
declined, thinking that the city wouldn't have
zoned it for residences if it was unsafe. In your own
judgment, you thought the site was safe, and
concurred that the city had already studied the site.
You never actually looked at the results of the study
done by the city, which were available, but not ever
publicly broadcast. If you were to be successfully
sued, you'd lose credibility and would be looking for
a new line of work.
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Insurance Representative
Flood and Landslide coverage are not part of the
basic homeowner policy (homeowner can refer to page
nine, line 26 of policy). When the homeowner first
purchased the policy ten years ago, you did ask if
s/he wanted the coverage, but s/he laughed and said
something like "what do I need flood insurance
for, I'm 100 feet above the water!" You have not
brought up the issue again when the homeowner has
renewed the insurance policy.
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City Official on Zoning Board
The zoning board was put under a lot of pressure
to okay this area as residential, both from the city
which wanted the property taxes, and from the
potential buyers who loved the view. A study of the
general slope stability was done. The findings were
that the slope had a one percent chance of failure
given 1.5 times the rainfall of the largest rainstorm
recorded in the last 50 years. This study did
recommend that the drainage be added to the slope to
increase stability. The results of this study were
available to anyone interested in them, provided they
came down to city hall and asked for them; the
results were never publicly broadcast or printed.
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