How hard is it to fight city hall? Just ask some people living on Bedard St. in Laval.

Dozens of homes were flooded last May after workers ruptured a 16-inch (40-centimentre) water main while building a sound barrier.

As many as 80 people were forced out, some with two metres of sewage in their homes.

Those hit the hardest had no insurance, like Rebecca Espinoza.

"I don't have money to buy all this stuff. It's like $10,000 and I don't have it," she said.

Told she could apply to the city for compensation she did so, only to receive a notice from Laval that the city is not responsible.

Instead, Laval is telling residents to pursue the contractor that did the work: Stantec, which bought sections of Dessau engineering in 2015.

Espinoza found that laughable, saying she did not have the cash to buy personal belongings insurance, let alone enough to hire a lawyer .

Ayda Abedi, a lawyer with a background in civil litigation, said while the city may not want to admit liability, Laval is responsible for the companies it hires.

"Generally speaking, whoever mandates someone has to answer to damages caused by that person," said Abedi.

"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."

Those who cannot afford a lawyer can always try to get Legal Aid from their local Bar Association.

But they will have to act quickly.

The deadline to launch legal action in this type of case is six months after the flood occurred, or Nov. 10, 2016.