For 6 years (2005 to 2011) I chased small and large above slab, basement water intrusion issues to eventually figure out my neighbors basement at 629 was taking on water runoff and holding standing water with every rain.

On the larger rains the flooding was covering a 15x25' area of their basement floor in up to 2" of water.

The water would start to enter my home above my slab in a few trickles. On bad days, or after many days of lighter rain it could reach a point of major intrusion.

Unable to "force someone" to fix their deferred maintenance on the exterior to keep their own basement free of standing water, I worked with them at "no cost" to identify the problems so they could hire contractors to rectify them.

When they couldn't find contractors to quote proper remediation work at numbers they could digest, I worked with them to do the "minimum amount of work possible" to "manage the problems" that were affecting my home at bargain basement pricing.

My emails indicate we had no other dialogue on basement water from 2011 until 2018.

Sounds like a job well done because it was a job well done.

In April 2021 Scott Berry sold 629 S. Paca St.

Scott made no calls to me to ask my opinion on how he should present the relevance or importance of the floor drain system or water proofing in the basement. I realized he had sold the home after the fact via MLS in May, 2021. I was very concerned I hadn't been notified but I was eye-balls deep in a a problematic purchase and separate refinance transaction of my own, so I wasn't able to shift my attention. I simply hoped he had disclosed our situation properly and I had to punt until I could free up some attention.

We eventually gained access via the tenants. The floor drain pump had been unplugged by a maintenance person preparing the home for sale several months prior. There was 2" of standing water covering the first 15-20' of the basement.

Five minutes after the sump was plugged in, their floor was free of water, and "MAGICALLY", my water issues disappeared again as they had for the decade prior. Days and weeks later we had more huge rains and no issues in my home. Just the way it's always been when their basement is managed properly.

When his basement floor is not being used as a tad pole garden,
my basement is dry.

There were no less than 5 witnesses to this situation.

So. Can you imagine my surprise when I got this email back from Scott related to this most recent event?

WOW. Just wow. Thank goodness for EMAILS.
In his email, Scott just showed us he feels it's okay to believe in anything we want to believe in regardless of facts.

Scott lived in the home from 2006 through the summer of 2011. After that, he became an absentee property owner who left his Mom to deal with everything major as she had for the 5 years prior.

Scott says he never noticed water in his basement or flooding when he was living there.
My emails show his mom was asking me if I could pump out his basement while he was living there...

It gets better.
Scott goes on to talk as if he was paying for the work was delayed due to him and it was all just to appease me???

It's nice to be appreciated and acknowledged properly in writing.

His Mom did it well.

Scott, on the other hand, has no negative feelings about paying to fix water intrusion issues in his basement that eliminated water issues I had been chasing for years completely?

A real stand-up guy isn't he...

This is the tip of the Iceberg for Scott.

I can only presume Scott didn't read the other emails his Mom had which called him out for ignoring my concerns for work they never did.

I can also presume he did not read the email I sent to him and Fran where I disclosed a dialogue with his tenants that alluded to the fact he was unresponsive to their concerns about a significant electrical issue.

What kind of Landlord doesn't respond to tenants' complaints about electrical issues?

To avoid responsibility for this water matter, Scott tried to use the "I don't recall" defense combined with a mis-directed reference you haven't seen yet. He's seemingly been trained in thoughtful misdirection by someone.

That made his gibberish seem a bit more pre-meditated...

Given the dialogue so far, how would you feel having Scott as your Anesthesiologist?

If he made a mistake, does he seems like the kind of guy who might own up to it?

Not in my book.

Unfortunately as Scott progressed through Medical School he picked up an Attitude problem that was evident to both his Mom and I before he left Baltimore.
Based on the reviews I was able to find for him, that doesn't seem to have gotten any better.

If you knew this story about Scott before a medical procedure, would you choose to have him as your Anesthesiologist?

I'd pass.

https://health.usnews.com/doctors/scott-berry-1002616#location

That was at the very peak of the market.

The LLC as I understand it was comprised of Scott W. Berry, an incoming medical student and his Grandfather, Albert Hammack.

Scott's Mom, Fran Berry, her father Albert F. Hammack and her mother xxxx Hammack were long time real estate investors. Fran was also involved in the ownership of some type of automotive paint production, sales and/or distribution business. I believe that was a multi-generational family business but I could be mistaken. I believe they lived towards the eastern shore and they had properties in other states as well.

As I recall, Scott's Mom Fran and her Parents thought it would be a good idea to buy a home for Scott to manage while in Med School. The thought was that he could learn the business during that time and hopefully the home would go up in value and possibly pay for a portion or all of medical school.

When Scott moved in he was nice guy.

As I recall, he was good with handling very basic upgrade items (closets, doornobs, maybe even some flooring or the like). As I recall from reading emails, I believe he managed a garden in the back yard. I believe he was the one who ran ads and handled room mate leases but I'm not positive about that. He wasn't very good with the larger maintenance and deferred maintenance issues that a 180 year old row home can present but what person his age with his background would be.

Scott lived in the home from 2006 through summer 2011. He and his roommates were always very quiet and polite. During that time he and I would speak about things related to the home, the economy, medical school, the medical system, etc. But when it came to any property management related issues beyond his skillset or anything that required any type of financial investment, his mother Fran was my contact. She basically handled all major property maintenance and management for the LLC.

For several years I poked around the inside and outside of my home trying to figure out what was going on. The water was coming in above the basement slab and above the curb against 629 in fully illogical places that were literally 20 to 40 feet from any possible water entry point.

I did NOT put a below slab water management system (sump system) in the home because the clay as we excavated it was like concrete. There was no water moving below the homes. and this water was NOT coming up from below the slab.

At some point during my investigation process I asked for access to the basement of 629, at which point I discovered significant standing water in their basement during and after major storms. My emails pickup with chasing their water problems starting in early 2011. I assume that is the first time I got into their basement and saw the magnitude of the standing water, but I'm really not sure.

Per the emails in 2011, they had water coming in above their basement slab in three areas of the basement:

1. The West wall was leaking water below a side door area. This area is about 35' from the front of the home and on the far side of the home from my home.

2. The South retaining wall which is about 40' from the front of the home

3. The front basement stairwell

One of the major problems or issues is that their basement slab slopes towards my home and towards the front of the homes, so all the water making it into the basement was using the shared basement wall as a gutter until it found it's way to a 2 to 3" standing pool of water at the front of his him that could extend 20-25 feet into the basement at it's highest.

The only way to rule out Scott's home as being the source of my water intrusion issues was to rectify the water entry in his home.

My emails in Spring 2011 pickup there with images and videos of a fully failed gutter system on the other side of his home that was outside of my normal view.

I have no record of emails with them prior to 2011. I'd imagine we had dialogue but I believe I was using a different email address. We'd have to check with Fran or Scott to see if there were any prior emails.