Property damages occur when a person’s land, home, car or other property is partly or completely destroyed or lost. This can happen during car accidents, home burglaries, or land destruction due to illegal trespassing. Property damages can be costly; sometimes the property is so severely damaged that it can’t be repaired or recovered. What is important is that when “property damage” is used as a legal term, it means someone else has damaged the property, not the owner. That other person could include:
- contractors
- construction workers
- architects
- other drivers
- neighbors
- family and friends
- coworkers
- boss
- supervisor
- collaborators
- partners
Property includes:
- land
- home
- car
- boat
- motorcycle or ATV
- plants and trees that grow on the land
- anything inside or outside a home, including furniture, household appliances, clothing, computer, etc.
- lawn decorations
- playground equipment
But don’t limit the word “property” to material goods. Property can also include someone’s intellectual property, such as:
- art
- books and other written work
- legal documents
- plans and designs
- ideas and concepts
- songs
- stunts
- skits or dramas
- voice recordings
- photographs
When someone’s material property is damaged, it’s often easy to see the results. Material property will appear broken, demolished, crushed, smashed, scratched, etc. When intellectual property is damaged, it’s different. Intellectual property can be stolen, used without permission for someone else’s gain, drastically changed without permission although it still contains the original creator’s name, or lost.
When material property is damaged, it can be very expensive to replace, for example, when a house burns down or a car is wrecked. When intellectual property is damaged, it can result in a loss of financial gain for the creator, defamation if it is used to defame or embarrass the creator, or it can be unrecoverable if it is lost.
If you are a victim of property damage, contact an attorney to discuss your options. Someone else may be responsible for any expenses occurred because of the loss.
Tags:
assault,
burglary,
car accident,
house fire,
property damage,
robbery,
theft
