Cat turned on the faucet and flooded neighbor's apartment: court orders owner to pay compensation

The Moscow City Court ordered a tenant to compensate his neighbor in the amount of 654,000 rubles (approximately 27,500 shekels) after his cat turned on the water faucet and flooded the apartment below. This was reported by the Russian news site Izvestia. The appellate ruling overturned a previous decision that had exempted the owner from liability.

During the legal proceedings, the defendant argued that the flooding was caused by circumstances beyond his control.

"The defendant stated that the flooding occurred due to the actions of his cat, which opened the water faucet with its paw," the court stated.

The legal saga began when the neighbor whose apartment was damaged filed a claim for damages. To his surprise, the court of first instance rejected the claim, arguing that it was filed against the wrong party. According to a report in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, the judges ruled that the responsibility lay with the Moscow municipality, which is the official owner of the apartment under a lifetime maintenance agreement, and not with the actual tenant.

However, the affected neighbor appealed to the City Court. The panel of judges was required to decide on a fundamental legal issue: who bears responsibility for damages when the property belongs to the municipality but is occupied by a private tenant and their pet.

Ultimately, the judges accepted the appeal, overturned the previous decision, and ruled that the responsibility for what occurs in the apartment lies fully with the person actually residing there. The court ordered the cat owner to pay the full amount of the damage, along with covering the neighbor's legal expenses, and clarified that a tenant bears responsibility for their pet and for what happens in their home, even if they are not the official owner of the property.