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Running of Statute of Limitations on Claims Related to Subjacent Support

A cause of action for harm due to excavation arises only when a surface owner’s land subsides, and not when the excavation is made when the surface owner’s cause of action arises when the land subsides, and not when the excavation is made.  The statutory limitation period in cases where injury to the surface results from the removal of the support starts from the time of the actual injury, and not from the date of the removal.

In Platts v. Sacramento N. Ry., 205 Cal. App. 3d 1025 (Cal. App. 1st Dist. 1988), an order from the Superior Court of Alameda County (California), granting summary judgment favoring defendant, a former underground easement owner in plaintiff’s negligence suit for damages sustained to his home after the ground under it subsided.  The appellate Court affirmed the trial Court’s judgment and stated that liable for damages felon the person who removed subjacent support from the tunnel.  On the other hand, defendant’s affidavit in support of its motion negated causation, and plaintiff failed to contradict the affidavit.  The Court affirmed that there were no triable issue of fact and defendant was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.

In West Pratt Coal Co. v. Dorman, 161 Ala. 389 (Ala. 1909), a coal company conducted coal mining underneath a property owners’ land. The property owners brought an action for land subsidence.  The upper soil of their land cracked open and settled down.  The suit was brought within one year of noticing the land subsidence.  It was alleged by the coal company that the suit was untimely because the coal might have been mined many years previously.  The appellate court affirmed the trial courts decision and contended that the suit was timely.  The Court also stated that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the property owners were harmed, that is, until the subsidence occurred, creating the nuisance for which the damages was sought.


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