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A neighbor caused water damage in my rental condo. What now?

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cloudeleven

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arkansas

I rent a condo in a high rise condo building, and about a year ago an upstairs neighbor caused water damage which leaked into my condo's bathroom and damaged the ceiling and walls. Not sure what happened, maybe they let their bathtub overrun and it leaked down into my ceiling and walls. Also, the upstairs neighbor who caused the damage has moved now. I'm actually not sure if it was really his fault, or if it was due to leaky pipes between the walls.

I informed the landlord immediately about the damage, she came up and looked at it and just walked away. I thought she would get it repaired eventually, but it was never repaired. Also, that landlady doesn't work here anymore, and I don't have her contact info, just her name. We have a new landlord now, and a new commercial real estate company owns the condos now. I enclosed a short note with my rental payment to the new landlord in October of last year saying there was water damage in my bathroom that had not been repaired by the previous landlord, but the new landlord didn't repair it or say anything about it to me. I'm not even sure they read the note. I didn't sign the note, but I enclosed it with my signed rental check, and I wrote the note on the payment stub that had my name on it. I also have a copy of the note/payment stub and that month's rental check.

I'm a little afraid the new landlord might want me to move or not renew my lease if I bother them with this potentially expensive problem, and I really like living here.

I probably should have refused to pay rent to the old landlord until it was fixed, but it didn't particularly bother me at the time (just a minor visual nuisance). But now I'm not sure what the repercussions might be when the new landlord eventually finds out the damage is there, perhaps when I move out? Can they kick me out for this even though it wasn't my fault (probably a plumbing issue or upstairs neighbor's overflowing tub), and even though I did enclose the note informing them about the damage with my rental payment last year?

Will the landlord's insurance pay for this? If the landlord's insurance doesn't pay, who does? My renter's insurance? Do I need dwelling coverage for the renter's insurance to pay (all I have is personal belongings and liability coverage)? (Is there even such a thing as dwelling coverage for renter's insurance?)

Is there a time limit for the landlord's insurance to pay for this (the damage occurred about a year ago, but I don't know the exact date or month)?

What should I do?
 
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JustAPal00

Senior Member
How bad is the damage? If it just needs painted then the LL may decide not to do it until the whole unit needs it.
 

cloudeleven

Junior Member
How bad is the damage? If it just needs painted then the LL may decide not to do it until the whole unit needs it.
Somewhat bad. It's definitely noticeable. The water formed pockets in the wall and ceiling when the leak happened, and now there is a crack in the ceiling and a part of the ceiling is sagging. The wall also has "bumps" in parts where the pockets formed. I think it will probably take more than a paint job.
 

moburkes

Senior Member
Mo -

This guy RENTS the place ;)
I know, that's why I said HO4 - that's renters insurance. From time to time you'll come across a really nice adjuster who will fix something that's not the responsbility of the insurance company, and then they will do all the subrogation work. Not often, but every once in awhile.
 

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