I have lived in my home for approximately 30 years and had a full unobstructed view of the Olympic mountains. My neighbor( of 15 years) had a house fire that totally destroyed their home. Before construction began the neighbor said that the new roof would only be 2 ft higher than their original roof. This turned out to be less than truthful and we lost the total view from our dining room window and the deck. The houses on our street were originally built to allow view's due to the terracing of homes. We are taxed on a view lot and our house value will decrease due to the loss. Do we have any recourse?

Go to your local housing department and check on zoning laws. Find out what is the maximum allowable height for homes in your subdivision. Check to see if your neighbor received a permit for the construction and, if the height is higher than code, whether he got a variance.

If he did not get a variance, you can force a reconstruction. For someone to get a variance, they generally have to publish a notice in the local paper for anyone to file an objection.

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Excon agrees : I didn't know that, and I LIVE here...

There was a situation here on Long Island a couple of years ago where former US Senator Alphonse D'Amato wanted to alter his home. The alterations involved making the structure higher and closer to the property lines then local zoning laws allowed. He had to apply for a variance. As I recall, the initial variance was denied and he had to resubmit plans for smaller alterations, that still required a variance.

Zoning laws are VERY local! For example, I would have to apply for a variance if I wanted to fence in my backyard, but the next town over doesn't require such. Of course, homeowners ignore zoning laws all the time and don't get permits for a lot of construction. They pay for it when they go to sell and don't of Certificates of Occupancy or other documentation to show that the alterations were legal.