Georgia Home Law

 Stock image by Sue Byford at www.sxc.hu

I'd like to take a time out today to discuss a clarification to a previous post, as well as how that clarification applies to all the posts on this site.  If you are looking for a post on some new law, then you'll just have to check back next week.  Sorry.

First up, the clarification.  In a case we discussed back in March, Kaplan v. City of Sandy Springs, I outlined the court's decision then gave my two cents about what I thought the implications would be for all homeowners in the future.  My thought was that the homeowners would have to pay for the damage caused to their property by a public water pipe, rather than the city or county having to fit the bill.  Boy was I wrong.

The homeowner in the case, Mrs. Kaplan, was nice enough to call me this week and educate me about what I missed.  What I learned from the conversation is that the case is four years old, and over the course of that time, there exist many, many, details that could not possibly have made it into the court's opinion.  And like most cases that make it up to the Georgia Supreme Court, the details are extremely complicated.  But the gist is the case is essentially about easements and easement rights, rather than homeowner responsibility.  The case was sent back to the county superior court and is awaiting a final resolution.

This case brings me to my second point and a note about all the posts on this site:  There is no way that I can possibly understand the details of what is going on in every case or news article I read.  Only those closest to the situation can decipher the real meaning and implication of the matter.  However, it is my hope that I can find the human side of each story and the practical lesson to take away from each case.  It is by explaining tedious legal opinions in this fashion that I hope we can: a) learn something, and b) start a discussion about it.  It is never my intention to presume that I know something I don't, or to offend anyone.  Learn and discuss.  That's it.  Because - truth be told - I actually like this stuff.

I hope you enjoy it enough to read again again next week.  See you then.