Water in Virginia is considered a "natural enemy" and any property owner is entitled to "fight it", i.e, divert or control the flow of water off of his land, even to the point of diverting it on to adjoining property owners BUT, it cannot be done to the point where it cause damage. You use the term "flooding" so I'm assuming it's pretty extensive and sounds like it goes beyond the amount of diversion allowed. If water is simply soaking into your lawn, the builder really isn't causing a problem, but anything more would likely cross the line. (no pun intended) All builders here as part of the development approval process must submit an approved sediment and erosion control plan, and I suspect Ohio has a similar requirement so before spending too much money, contact the local building inspection department and they may take action as it sound like the approved plan isn't being followed. If that doesn't work, an Ohio attorney will need to advise as to whether the laws are the same there, but I would suspect they are.
Answered on Nov 17th, 2012 at 8:57 AM