The City of Laval says it's not responsible after dozens of homes on Bedard Street were flooded last May during construction of a sound barrier.
Some of the homeowners had no insurance and were hoping for compensation from the city but Laval is telling residents to pursue the contractor, Stantec, that did the work.
Lawyer Ayda Abedi has a background in civil litigation.
She tells CTV the city may not want to admit liability but is responsible for the companies it hires.
"Generally speaking, whoever mandates someone has to answer to damages caused by that person. In this case if there is actually a contract between the city and the contractor who caused the damage then the city would have to answer for that damage." said Abedi.
The deadline to launch legal action in this type of case is six months after the flood occurred, so time is running out.