What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? DC
Well, it's been a busy couple of months for me and the DH. As I mentioned in previous posts, we had some flooding issues in our apartment last spring, which we thought were resolved. Turns out the "resolution" was that spring ended and it barely rains here in the summer. Spring rolls around again this year and we've had more flooding. As I've also previously mentioned, my LL is somewhere between a slumlord and a scatterbrain. We've put up with a lot and we're not looking to sue over stuff we decided to just deal with.
But the flooding is a huge issue. It is caused by (a) a clogged downspout drain the runs 1 foot from our back door, in an entry well a few feet deep (the circumstances allow water to collect and enter the unit), all the water that hits the house makes it to this pipe, and then it overflows into the surface drain which (b) is obstructed with debris from the back yard that is carried into the drain area by runoff from the yard (i.e., no matter what we do, the drain can clog in a matter of 2 minutes - yes, we have tried cleaning up the yard, but that doesn't appear to be sufficient as the rain brings fresh leaves down from the trees and into the drain rather quickly). Upon the last occurrence, the LL promised to clear the downspout drain, have a professional assess the setup to see if anything should be altered (a second downspout), and examine ways to prevent debris from entering the surface drain area. A week later, she e-mailed and said, in so many words, we were overreacting (to an INCH OF WATER IN OUR LIVING ROOM!!!) and she wasn't doing anything about the drainage situation as the drain works fine.
Given all of this, we are moving out. Our lease expires on September 30, and we have given the LL notice of intent to vacate. I sent two copies of the notice, one certified RRR, and one priority mail with delivery confirmation. The priority mail copy was delivered today, but, of course, we have not received the delivery receipt for the certified copy yet (we sent the delivery confirmation just in case she decided NOT to pick up the certified copy). We are well above the 60 day requirement for notice (July 31).
We also contacted the code office about the flooding. Seriously, no one should have to go through that. As you can imagine, the LL is pisssssssssssed. Unmitigated water entry in the lower level unit (or a basement or crawl space, for that matter) is a violation of the DC rental code for the WHOLE building, not just our unit.
Even though she just received our notice today, she knew we were moving out over a month ago. A neighbor informed us that she told him that the flooding was OUR fault, and she was going to charge us for the replacement of flooring, cleaning costs, and rental expenses for dehumidifiers, fans, etc. from the very destructive floods last year.
So....evidence check. Of course we have delivery confirmation and hopefully the certified receipt (and if not, the returned letter) for our notice, and we plan to fulfill our lease as it is summer now and we shouldn't have any more floods. We have pictures and videos (as well as a few witnesses) for the floods last year and this year. We have video of how quickly the drainpipe overflows and how quickly the surface drain becomes overwhelmed (this video is good, showing going from clean and free flowing to clogged and backing up in 2 minutes flat...yes, we dove out the door and started pulling debris out and bucket brigading the water and stopped it from flooding that time, the other incident this year we were both @ work when it happened). Her promises to fix the drain were verbal, but then we followed up with an e-mail stating our availability to meet a plumber to clean the drain, which she acknowledged and said she would make an appointment, and which she replied to a week later stating nothing would be done. We DON'T have a code inspection report since it wasn't raining when the code inspector came out and so he couldn't do anything at the time.
Any suggestions for evidence we are missing? Should we call the code office emergency number the next time it's going to rain to get an inspector out there and actually have a report? We're talking about a lot of flooring here, and the costs, I'm sure, were substantial. We really can't afford to lose our $2000 deposit plus anything she might bill/sue us for.
Well, it's been a busy couple of months for me and the DH. As I mentioned in previous posts, we had some flooding issues in our apartment last spring, which we thought were resolved. Turns out the "resolution" was that spring ended and it barely rains here in the summer. Spring rolls around again this year and we've had more flooding. As I've also previously mentioned, my LL is somewhere between a slumlord and a scatterbrain. We've put up with a lot and we're not looking to sue over stuff we decided to just deal with.
But the flooding is a huge issue. It is caused by (a) a clogged downspout drain the runs 1 foot from our back door, in an entry well a few feet deep (the circumstances allow water to collect and enter the unit), all the water that hits the house makes it to this pipe, and then it overflows into the surface drain which (b) is obstructed with debris from the back yard that is carried into the drain area by runoff from the yard (i.e., no matter what we do, the drain can clog in a matter of 2 minutes - yes, we have tried cleaning up the yard, but that doesn't appear to be sufficient as the rain brings fresh leaves down from the trees and into the drain rather quickly). Upon the last occurrence, the LL promised to clear the downspout drain, have a professional assess the setup to see if anything should be altered (a second downspout), and examine ways to prevent debris from entering the surface drain area. A week later, she e-mailed and said, in so many words, we were overreacting (to an INCH OF WATER IN OUR LIVING ROOM!!!) and she wasn't doing anything about the drainage situation as the drain works fine.
Given all of this, we are moving out. Our lease expires on September 30, and we have given the LL notice of intent to vacate. I sent two copies of the notice, one certified RRR, and one priority mail with delivery confirmation. The priority mail copy was delivered today, but, of course, we have not received the delivery receipt for the certified copy yet (we sent the delivery confirmation just in case she decided NOT to pick up the certified copy). We are well above the 60 day requirement for notice (July 31).
We also contacted the code office about the flooding. Seriously, no one should have to go through that. As you can imagine, the LL is pisssssssssssed. Unmitigated water entry in the lower level unit (or a basement or crawl space, for that matter) is a violation of the DC rental code for the WHOLE building, not just our unit.
Even though she just received our notice today, she knew we were moving out over a month ago. A neighbor informed us that she told him that the flooding was OUR fault, and she was going to charge us for the replacement of flooring, cleaning costs, and rental expenses for dehumidifiers, fans, etc. from the very destructive floods last year.
So....evidence check. Of course we have delivery confirmation and hopefully the certified receipt (and if not, the returned letter) for our notice, and we plan to fulfill our lease as it is summer now and we shouldn't have any more floods. We have pictures and videos (as well as a few witnesses) for the floods last year and this year. We have video of how quickly the drainpipe overflows and how quickly the surface drain becomes overwhelmed (this video is good, showing going from clean and free flowing to clogged and backing up in 2 minutes flat...yes, we dove out the door and started pulling debris out and bucket brigading the water and stopped it from flooding that time, the other incident this year we were both @ work when it happened). Her promises to fix the drain were verbal, but then we followed up with an e-mail stating our availability to meet a plumber to clean the drain, which she acknowledged and said she would make an appointment, and which she replied to a week later stating nothing would be done. We DON'T have a code inspection report since it wasn't raining when the code inspector came out and so he couldn't do anything at the time.
Any suggestions for evidence we are missing? Should we call the code office emergency number the next time it's going to rain to get an inspector out there and actually have a report? We're talking about a lot of flooring here, and the costs, I'm sure, were substantial. We really can't afford to lose our $2000 deposit plus anything she might bill/sue us for.