Landlord not repairing Electrical Problems

[Zigner]

YOU noticed the problem, YOU kept your $2000 dollars worth of equipment plugged in not the landlord. YOU need to see if you can argue with nice little ENASNI about that.

So....
OP should have unplugged the fridge and all the alarm clocks?

 

[HomeGuru]

So....
OP should have unplugged the fridge and all the alarm clocks?

**A: get real.

 

[ENASNI]

Ay Yi Yi Yi YI

So....
OP should have unplugged the fridge and all the alarm clocks?

If I was the OP This is what I would do
they would have stayed plugged in so I could wake up and pour my Milk on my Cheerios.

However I would have unplugged my THREE COMPUTERS and kept a ZIPPO under my landlord's Calvin Kleins to protect my $2000.00 worth of equipment.WHY??? you ask, because I KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM. Now you made me shout and I have a headache... Logic will do that to you.

I am not going under my desk again for neanderthals again. My bed is better. I cleaned under there since JETX caught me in a mistake.

 

[Ohiogal]

I am not going under my desk again for neanderthals again. My bed is better. I cleaned under there since JETX caught me in a mistake.

Sweetie,
Did we need to know that JETX was under your bed? And should we ask what the mistake was J caught you in?

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? Virginia

I moved into a rental home on October 15 2005. I noticed an electrical problem on December 15 and contacted my Landlord via phone who promised to get an electriciam to my home ASAP. On December 20 2006 five days later there was an electrical surge and damaged over 2000 worth of my belongings. The Landlord arrived 10 minutes later and called the electrician for the first time although he promised to do so 5 days prior. Is the Landlord liable for my damages?

Susan

Q: Is the Landlord liable for my damages?

A: Does your landlord own the electric company?

 

[justalayman]

Q: Is the Landlord liable for my damages?

A: Does your landlord own the electric company?

SJ: this situation you spoke of earlier in the thread can happen within the home itself. It does not always occur at the service drop/utility connection.

Anytime there is a "shared" neutral, there is the possibility of this happening. A residential building in most areas is wired using NM type wire (or one of its' predecessors) shared neutrals are less common than in commercial and/or industrial installations but not unusual. While wire designated 12-2 plus ground or 14-2 plus ground would not allow the sharing of neutrals but if 12-3 plus ground or 14-3 plus ground was used for a multi-circuit 120 volt branch circuit, the neutral would be a shared neutral. If the neutral lost its' ground connection it would result in the 220 volt (actually 240 volts in most places but in 3 phase power supplies it could even be 208 volts although this is almost unheard of in residential areas) situation. All of this while the neutral connection to the utility and/or the grounding system connection staying intact.

So to answer your question implied in your post: yes the LL can be liable for the condition of the electrical system that may have cause this.

Now the thing is through this entire thread, the OP never did state how the electrical situation damaged his/her equipment (read: what was the problem). Although this seems to be the most probable, there are other things that may have caused damage.

 

[madjaxem]

Q: Is the Landlord liable for my damages?

A: Does your landlord own the electric company?

No my LL does not own the electric company but he should have hired an electrician to check out my problem 5 days prior to the damage like I asked him and like he promised he would. It states in my lease that I am not allowed to hire anyone for repairs myself.

 

[madjaxem]

If I was the OP This is what I would do
they would have stayed plugged in so I could wake up and pour my Milk on my Cheerios.

However I would have unplugged my THREE COMPUTERS and kept a ZIPPO under my landlord's Calvin Kleins to protect my $2000.00 worth of equipment.WHY??? you ask, because I KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM. Now you made me shout and I have a headache... Logic will do that to you.

I am not going under my desk again for neanderthals again. My bed is better. I cleaned under there since JETX caught me in a mistake.

Do you unplug YOUR computer every time your lights blink?

 

[madjaxem]

SJ: this situation you spoke of earlier in the thread can happen within the home itself. It does not always occur at the service drop/utility connection.

Anytime there is a "shared" neutral, there is the possibility of this happening. A residential building in most areas is wired using NM type wire (or one of its' predecessors) shared neutrals are less common than in commercial and/or industrial installations but not unusual. While wire designated 12-2 plus ground or 14-2 plus ground would not allow the sharing of neutrals but if 12-3 plus ground or 14-3 plus ground was used for a multi-circuit 120 volt branch circuit, the neutral would be a shared neutral. If the neutral lost its' ground connection it would result in the 220 volt (actually 240 volts in most places but in 3 phase power supplies it could even be 208 volts although this is almost unheard of in residential areas) situation. All of this while the neutral connection to the utility and/or the grounding system connection staying intact.

So to answer your question implied in your post: yes the LL can be liable for the condition of the electrical system that may have cause this.

Now the thing is through this entire thread, the OP never did state how the electrical situation damaged his/her equipment. Although this seems to be the most probable, there are other things that may have caused damage.

Actually the city did come out after the damage occurred and repaired the drop line. The city however does not feel ant liability because they were not informed prior to the incident. They of course feel liability lies with my LL simply because I asked him to repair the problem and he chose to ignore it. The city also stated that although the nuetral failed there should have been a ground to the house which was loose.

 

[justalayman]

Actually the city did come out after the damage occurred and repaired the drop line. The city however does not feel ant liability because they were not informed prior to the incident. They of course feel liability lies with my LL simply because I asked him to repair the problem and he chose to ignore it. The city also stated that although the nuetral failed there should have been a ground to the house which was loose.

Thanks. Hopefully the ground connection was corrected as well.

Now, while risking the wrath of all those that feel you had the duty to mitigate your damages by unplugging your electrical appliances, it's the LL's fault.

While I see their arguement, it is not realistic to effectively turn off your entire electrical system for the 5 days it took the LL to inititate the repair.

 

[justalayman]

cat litter found in shower .

Now about this problem!

How in the world is car litter in your shower a LL problem. I am assuming you have cats, right?

 

[madjaxem]

Now about this problem!

How in the world is car litter in your shower a LL problem. I am assuming you have cats, right?

We moved into this rental house in November and the LL did absolutely no cleaning or repairs prior to us moving in. We ended up doing all of the cleaning and most repairs ourselves. The shower in the extra bathroom had this wood flooring. When I questioned the LL concerning this he assured us it was in working condition. My husband lifted the wood and there was USED cat litter filling the bottom. NO! I do NOT have any animals. The LL has not repaired over half of the requests we have made.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thanks. Hopefully the ground connection was corrected as well.

Now, while risking the wrath of all those that feel you had the duty to mitigate your damages by unplugging your electrical appliances, it's the LL's fault.

While I see their arguement, it is not realistic to effectively turn off your entire electrical system for the 5 days it took the LL to inititate the repair.

Again though HOW did she inform the LL? It is not his fault if she did not inform the LL properly according to the terms of their lease/LL law. And it is realistic to take precautions. The law will want to see that she did everything in her power to prevent the damage. She did not.

 

[madjaxem]

Again though HOW did she inform the LL? It is not his fault if she did not inform the LL properly according to the terms of their lease/LL law. And it is realistic to take precautions. The law will want to see that she did everything in her power to prevent the damage. She did not.

What do you mean I didn't do enough? What more could I have done. I informed my LL via phone which he does not deny. In fact I have a witness that heard my end of the conversation. People do not unplug ALL their electrical items if they see a problem instead they call an expert which is an electrician. Do you think I could have lived in this house for 5 days without electricity? And why should I? I am paying my rent on time and keeping the place up a LOT better then the LL did.

 

[acmb05]

What do you mean I didn't do enough? What more could I have done. I informed my LL via phone which he does not deny. In fact I have a witness that heard my end of the conversation. People do not unplug ALL their electrical items if they see a problem instead they call an expert which is an electrician. Do you think I could have lived in this house for 5 days without electricity? And why should I? I am paying my rent on time and keeping the place up a LOT better then the LL did.

You did not have to go without electricity. You could however have unplugged your computer and such as they are not considered necessities.

Whether anyone heard your conversation or not you still would need to notify the landlord acoording to the laws of your state.

You do realize that it can often take more than five days to get an electrician to come to a home and look at a problem? The landlord may very well have called someone and they just could not get out there in that time eperiod.

Bottom line is YOU need to have everything in writing not deal with the landlord by phone.