Margaret Smither (53) has been fighting the council's roading staff for almost three years, trying to get them to admit liability for faulty workmanship she said had caused part of Glen Rd to slump.
The home she shared with boarder Michael Wilson (51) was located below the road, and she claimed the slumping had damaged three retaining walls built between the road and her home in the late 1940s.
However, pleas to the council had fallen on deaf ears, she claimed.
"They just want to keep putting the blame back on us."
Council asset ownership policy engineer Peter Besuijen rejected the suggestion, saying the council had offered to fix some - but not all - of the damaged retaining walls while repairing the road.
"The council has shown a willingness to look after their area of responsibility, and the property owner has explored a number of avenues to try and change that."
The Otago Daily Times visited this week and found the retaining walls and path down to her front door were cracked and warped, with a noticeable slump - as well as fresh cracks - in the road above.
Two chunks of concrete from one retaining wall were now in Mrs Smither's lounge, having fallen off the wall in recent weeks.
"Every time it rains, you are watching, not knowing what's going to happen to the walls. It's quite mentally stressful," she said.
Mrs Smither paid for an independent engineering report in late 2008, viewed by the ODT, which blamed the damage to retaining walls on the council's failure to maintain the road's supports.
Without repairs, the road could continue to move, leading to broken paths, collapsed walls and uncontrolled water runoff, it said.
"At worst, a sudden landslip could close Glen Rd, and put you and your house at risk," it said.
Mrs Smither said her neighbour's home had already experienced a slip years earlier, but she had been repeatedly knocked back while arguing with council roading staff about the threat to her home since 2007.
Council staff had, instead, pointed the finger of blame at the failure of retaining walls on her property for destabilising the road above, she said.
In the meantime, the threat had caused insurance problems, and an entry on her property's land information memorandum (LIM), noting the dispute, meant Mrs Smither would struggle to sell her home.
"Nobody would buy it," she said.
However, Mr Besuijen said the retaining walls appeared to have been built at different times, with the council only responsible for those closest to the road, built as part of its construction.
"That's supported by our legal view," he said.
A separate report commissioned by council consultants MWH earlier this year blamed the road's slumping for damaging the council's retaining walls.
However, the report found it was "highly unlikely" the slumping was causing damage to the third wall nearest Mrs Smither's home, and blamed poor construction of the wall instead.
The report also warned "slope instability" could occur in an earthquake or prolonged rainfall, but Mr Besuijen said he did not believe there was an "immediate danger".
As a result, the council had offered to fix all three walls, but only if Mrs Smither paid for her share of repairs when work was carried out, he said.
Exact details of the council's offer remained confidential, but - together with a $1200 bill for engineering reports and a $5000 legal bill - Mrs Smither's costs were likely to be above $10,000.
"I can't do it, because I can't afford it. I'm a caregiver - you can imagine the wage for that," she said.
Instead, her lawyer - Jonny Mirkin, of Wilkinson Adams Lawyers - said he would be taking her case to the Office of the Ombudsmen in the next few weeks.
Mr Besuijen said he could not comment on other details of the dispute, given the legal threat.
However, repairs above 63 Glen Rd were scheduled to take place in the 2010-11 financial year, he said.
