New York City Floods: Can I File a Wrongful Death Claim?

New York Attorney Explains Who Has Legal Grounds

Video Transcript:

Judy Maggio:

If someone lost a loved one in the recent New York City flood, could they possibly take legal action? We're asking New York City lawyer Tom Markovits for this Ask The Lawyers Quick Question.

Tom Markovits:

It really depends. For example, I know I read in the media that some people were trapped in basement illegal apartments and couldn't get out because of the great pressure of the water pushing in from the outside, so unfortunately, if that situation occurred, if the apartment was not a legal apartment for example, the landlord didn't have a certificate of occupancy for someone to live in such an apartment, then you may have a claim against the owner of that property for renting an illegal apartment. Obviously, on the other hand, if, for example, some of the cars that got swept away were people in cars that got swept away from flooding, unfortunately, there's no remedy for that type of natural act of God, but as I said, it really depends. These things are very fact-specific.

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