Noone v. Price
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
298 S.E.2d 218 (W. Va. 1982)
The Noones' (plaintiffs') hillside house began slipping, allegedly because of disrepair in a retaining wall on neighbor Price's (defendant's) property that predated both parties' ownership and had already been deteriorating before Price bought her home; the Noones repaired their own house for $6,000 and sued Price for failing to maintain the wall's lateral support. The trial court granted partial summary judgment for Price, and the Noones appealed.
Whether a landowner may recover on a strict-liability theory for damage to property caused by a neighbor's failure to maintain a retaining wall, where the damage would not have occurred but for the weight of a building later constructed on the landowner's property.