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Supreme Court of Pennsylvania· 5/7/1906

Strauss v. Allentown

Citations

  • 215 Pa. 96
  • 63 A. 1073
  • 1906 Pa. LEXIS 739

Syllabus

<p>Waters — Flow of surface water — Municipalities—Damnum absque injuria.</p> <p>A city is not liable to a property owner for the increased flow of surface water over or onto his property, arising merely from the changes in the character of the surface produced by the opening of streets, building of houses, etc., in the ordinary and regular course of the expansion of the city.</p> <p>Every man has the right to the natural, proper and profitable use of his own land, and if in the course of such use without negligence unavoidable loss is brought upon his neighbor, it is damnum absque injuria. This rule applies to municipalities as well as to individuals.</p>

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

  • “there is no sound reason why the same rule should not apply to municipalities as to individuals”
  • “The same rule must apply to the natural and proper development of a municipality”
  • \The same rule must apply to the natural and proper development of a municipality\

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Judges: Brown, Chibe, Mestrezat, Mitchell, Potter, Stewart

Read full opinion on CourtListener

Cited by

30 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

Cites

6 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

Sourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.