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personal property damage due to poor building construction-who is resposible in CA?

  • Thread starter Thread starter royreen
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royreen

Guest
california- san francisco

While moving out of our apartment in sf, we dicovered that a crack in the outside wall of our building had caused rain water to enter our apartment and seep under the floor where our bed lay. The bed being positioned directly on the floor, started to grow mold on it, from the damp floor due to the cracks in the building and the water seeping in. The apartment manager looked at the mold on the carpet and the bed and told us, we would not be responsible for the carpet damage due to this mold and that we would have to contact the property managers to get a reimbursement on a new bed.
After moving out, we wrote two letters and made numerous phone calls to the management, stating that we would like to get our reimbursement. After about 30 days, they sent us an answer saying that they were not responsible for personal property and cited to the lease saying that it shoudl be covered in renter's insurance. We never purchsed renters insurance, so this is not an option. I would think that under the Implied Warranty of Habitabilty, having a leak on the outer perimeter of a building causing water to seep into the sturture and develop mold throughout would be considered unfit conditions for living. I think that the building owers agree with the poor construction of the building since they are renovating the entire outside of the building as we speak.
We now do not have a bed because we had to discard of it and need to know what we can do to recover this loss. We have pictures of our one year old matress with the damage. I would think that property damage due to a landlord negligence is their liabilty. Is this correct? Do we have a valid claim if we take them to small claims court? Please help.
 


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retertoooo

Guest
NO... that is what renters insurance is for..

GET SOME TODAY!!!!!!!!!


OK here is the common sense way to look at this , the Landlord MUST have actually caused the damage to your property To be covered under their homeowners policy.

The landlord did nothing to actualy cause the crack in the wall. So it is YOUR responsibility to protect your own property.

Now what did you do to stop the mold? did you steam clean the carpets with lysol and bleach? or did you just let it sit there and rot out your mattress?

You cant always blame the landlord for everything!
 

Cvillecpm

Senior Member
You should have renter's insurance and been way more observant - like when you changed your bedsheets, vacumed, did general house cleaning.
 
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royreen

Guest
reply-property damage

In reponse to being more observant. The rain seeped in in the last two weeks we were there, and the mold was not seen until we lifted the bed the day we were moving out. I am not sure how often people change there sheets, but I would say every two weeks is a good average. As for the landlord's insurance, does it not cover damage that is a direct result of his failure to maintain the building up to habitable standards? The entire building is filled with cracks, that is why they gave us a month to month agreement when we first moved to the city 6 months ago, because they were to begin renovation on the 7 month (march). As graduate students, paying rent in SF is hard enough, and our things really aren't worth enough to insure. I wish we had discovered the mold in a matter of days and been able to clean our bed, but when it happens within the week you are moving out, that is a whole different story.
The other thing was that even if we tried to clean the bed, the apartment manager told us to leave the bed with him so he could show the property management company, so in a way he kept the bed, regardless if we wanted to keep the bed or not. Obivously the Landlord has no control over the rain, but it is his resposibilty to maintain the building, therefore being a direct result of his failure to perform his duty more rapidly, knowing the condition of the building, but waiting 7 months to actually repair the building, in the midst of the rainy season, shouldn't the property management company be responsible for damages the are incurred prior to the building actually being fixed? We all know they can afford it, since it is the largest property management company in the city, owning almost half of the city's buildings.

Let me know
Thanks
RR
 
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retertoooo

Guest
UH i pay $246 a year for $47,000 contents and $100,000 liabilty in New York City

Come on man you can eat one less take out pizza or chinese a month or make lunch at home, or how about giving up Starbucks twice a week. or NO mickey D's...

tell me you cant afford $20 a month!
 

Cvillecpm

Senior Member
No...landlord can not insure someone else's property. Renter's insurance costs about as much as a "bad pizza" per month.

I have not seen a lease - printed or self-made - in the last 10 years that does not mention it and that landlords' can't insure tenant's personal property.

Since you did not know of the moisture, how could the landlord possible know?

Even for SF, this is a real no brainer.
 

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