This fall’s Dallas tornado was especially vexing to Winn Blohn who stored many personal belongings in Sasha Stach’s Stach-a-Lot Self-Storage unit. Sasha denied access to all the units for weeks. Can Sasha do that?
Continue Reading When a Tornado Damages Your Self-Storage Unit, are Your Rights Blown Away?
Washed Away: What Rights Do You Have When Your Home is Flooded?
Co-authors: JP Vogel and Tim Fandrey
Bill Deron bought a 100-acre tract next to a creek outside the City of Houston. Deron planned to build a subdivision where some of the homes abut a creek. The other homes would sit about 15 feet higher than the creekside homes. Deron disclosed to the creekside buyers that they needed flood insurance. But he did not tell any other home buyers to purchase flood insurance. Hurricane Harvey dumped so much rain on the neighborhood that all of the homes in Deron’s neighborhood flooded. Homeowners soon learned that the entire neighborhood sat in a floodplain. Did Deron have a duty to disclose whether the development or any part thereof is in a floodplain or even do something more? What about the government entity who approves the development?
Continue Reading Washed Away: What Rights Do You Have When Your Home is Flooded?
Does My Business Need Riot Insurance?
Broken windows, looting and fires were some of the lasting images from the Ferguson, Missouri riots. And if you looked at those pictures closely, you may have noticed that a substantial number of the damaged businesses were locally-owned, “mom and pop” shops. And if you are a business owner, you couldn’t help but ask
Affluenza – Is It Contagious?
Taking advantage of his car dealership owning parents being on vacation in the Bahamas, Cache Bar, a minor, invites his high school buddies over to liberate his parents’ locked libation cabinet. Well lubricated, Cache builds quite the bonfire in the backyard knowing that no one in their hometown of Daughtry, Texas, can water their lawns because of the severe drought. The bonfire consumes Cache’s backyard grass, and then spreads and destroys three million-dollar mansions on Cache’s street. When Cache is charged with intentionally starting a fire that recklessly damaged his neighbors’ homes, his parents scramble for a defense to help him avoid arson charges – a state jail felony. Cache’s parents read a news article about another Texas teenager who avoided jail by asserting an “affluenza” defense – that the teenager was the product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for their son. Will “affluenza” keep Cache out of jail? If so, does that affect his parents?
Tornados and Leases – Who Pays?
Winn Blohn knew the storm was coming before it lifted the roof and parts of the second floor from his home. Hiding behind the kitchen counters during the fifteen seconds of swirling glass and falling debris, Winn knew the roof was gone. Now, it’s too early to tell if the next call should be for
Can You Get Away With Faking Your Own Death?
Aaron Elvis is a world-renowned chemist. His latest paper explaining the chemical origins of life has received unprecedented acclaim in the scientific community. However, there is a small problem. Elvis manipulated some of his test results upon which the paper was based, and now one of his graduate students is about to expose Elvis as
Should you Purchase Rental Insurance?
Les Plack, a dentist from Houston, took his family on a thrilling summer vacation to Baltimore, Maryland to fulfill his lifelong dream of visiting the National Museum of Dentistry. Having collected his luggage at the Baltimore Washington International Airport, Plack headed to the Joy Ride Rental Car counter to rent a sporty Kia Sedona for
Can you Sue for Damage from a Wind Blown Shopping Cart?
Yesterday Alluring Allison drove her brand new 2011 BMW to Wally World. Wanting to avoid that first door ding, Allie parked her beloved Beamer away from the other cars. Little did she know that Robby Redneck was loading up his pickup truck just up the hill from her. After unloading all of his shopping carts