I am in a complicated situation, need your advie and help.

[littleMike]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

I own an rental apartment where my tenants live there. My unit is at 2nd floor of a three floor building. The unit below me (1st floor) was vacant for several months, its owner is living in other state.
A few days ago in the maintenance check, someone found 1st unit had water damages in its bathroom. The water damages must be there for long time from weeks to months as large area of mold found on its wall as no one noticed this for long time. The leaking place was found inside of the wall in my unit near the ceiling.

Due to the long term water flowing inside of the wall (not direct contact), some areas of my wall is so fragile even a finger can easily poke a hole on the wall. The whole wall including bath room attachment may need to be replaced. So question is who is responsible for the repair?

As the leak is from pipe inside of the wall (drain pipe from top floor), so it may be viewed as common area. Should the building management be responsible for the repair?
Management may argue the leaking was not noticed for long time because vacant in 1st floor, so its owner should be responsible. Is this a valid reason to refuse to repair my wall?

Thanks.

 

[tranquility]

While I can argue someone other than the owner is responsible, it would only be an argument made for money. (Or other facts not in evidence.)

Sorry, this will be on you.

 

[You Are Guilty]

I understand why the damage in the lower unit was not observed sooner, but how is it that your tenants did not notice all the alleged damage in your unit before now?

 

[littleMike]

Why is my responsibility? There was no sign in any place in my unit there was a leak. Even the plumper hired by the management company couldn't tell the leaking place until they knocked the wall down. Does the owner of the unit needs to knock down the wall regularly to check any leak?

 

[tranquility]

Why is my responsibility? There was no sign in any place in my unit there was a leak. Even the plumper hired by the management company couldn't tell the leaking place until they knocked the wall down. Does the owner of the unit needs to knock down the wall regularly to check any leak?

No, that is probably why it's not negligence you can sue someone for. Unless there are other facts to indicate there is some negligence there is a problem to getting paid by another. Even insurance doesn't always cover such things. Your association documents may limit any "common area" damage and your declarations may not allow non-negligent recompense from a neighbor. I put that in quotes because even proving that may take some time and money. This is an ugly mess and the first place I'd go is to my insurance company. With hope, you'd be covered and just be out deductible until all the lawyers get involved and argue the heck out of this uncertain situation.

 

[littleMike]

Thanks Tranquility for your comments. It makes sense to me.

There are some new updates. Today I let a repair company make an estimation for the repair. If just replace the wall in my bath room, it should cost less than $1000.
So I am not sure if it makes sense to make a claim. I could just pay out of my own pocket to have the wall replaced without asking any compensation. I am not sure if I should make such a small claim as insurance may reject to cover me in future if there are too many claims. (I had one claim due to hail damages to the roof in past 5 years).

It seems to me there is also other benefit when I make a claim, my insurance will automatically defend me in case any parties in this case may ask me to take responsibility. Other than this, does it make sense to make a claim for $1000 case?

Thanks.

 

[tranquility]

This is not a legal answer, but some insurance companies have increased coverage costs or denied renewal when there has been water damage. Mold is a weird thing right now. Even though there is not a bunch of data showing how dangerous it is, the topic of mold is in litigation in general and the cost to litigate is expensive. The answer to your particular question is complex an implicates many things. Read, study, think and come up with your best guess. Let us know how it turns out so we have another data point to think about such issues.