Look Who it Was Random video

Homeowner Loses Insurance Because Of Neighbor

600 views · Published 15 January 2008 · 2:16 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: KMBC 9 · 2008 · News & Politics

Watch on YouTube

A Wyandotte County man might be forced out of his home because of the proximity of the house next door.

Travis Johnson said that when he moved into his house, the seller told him that the house next door would be torn down.

Sixty days after he signed the paperwork to buy the home, he got a letter from his insurance company. The letter said the company was dropping Johnson's insurance because the house next door was deemed unsafe and it was too close to the property. 

"'I'm my neighbor's keeper' -- that's what the insurance company is trying to tell me," Johnson told KMBC's Dion Lim.

Johnson said the city told him that the house wasn't in poor condition and that there wasn't enough money to tear it down.

Johnson said he has less than a month to find a new insurer or he has to move. He said his only option is to pay a special insurance premium that would make his rates four times higher than before.

A representative with the city's Code Enforcement Department said they will do improvements to the neighbor's house, including boarding up the windows and getting the structure up to code. The department will also talk with Johnson's insurance company to see if the issue can be resolved.

More from this channel