What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA - I am renting a condo owned by a private owner who owns 1 unit in our 34 unit complex.
Approximately 3 weeks ago, the washing machine in my unit malfunctioned, and the fill sensor did not shut off the water filling the tub, and it flooded over. This happened while my maid was there doing a load of laundry, someone I have complete confidence and trust in. He shut the machine off once he noticed the water flooding over, and he dried up the water with a towel.
Unfortunately, this water damage was not confined to my unit, it went downward and hit my 2 neighbors below me. I believe that the HOA insurance policy is covering the damage to the neighbor's units, but my unit was not covered by the HOA Insurance.
My landlord informed me on the day of the incident that he did not have insurance. He told me that he needed me to be patient and cooperative while he figured out a way to deal with the situation.
The next day an insurance company showed up and took photos inside my unit with my landlord present. I did not ask any questions, and was not asked any questions by the insurance agent - but I am assuming my landlord ordered a policy that day, and since the water damage was not visible at the time, the agent didn't become suspect.
After this, I did not hear from my landlord or anyone for several days. During this time I was unable to do my laundry because of the defective machine. I finally contacted my landlord, on Monday (6 days after the incident occurred) and asked him for a status update on the repair to my washing machine as well as any flood/mold remediation work that needed to occur. He tried to play stupid, acting like he assumed that someone else was taking care of it, and I told him no work had been done and nothing was fixed.
The next day, the repair man showed up, fixed the washing machine with my landlord present. During this time, my landlord was asking him very pointed questions which would try to place fault on me, asking him if overloading the machine was the cause, improper operation, etc. The repair man would not affirmatively answer my landlords questions and simply said "these things happen - it's very difficult to determine the cause of something like this". Later that day, the flood company showed up and installed a dryer in my home. I did my laundry that night because the flood guy told me they would need to disconnect the washing machine unit in order to remove the floor and the walls around it to dry those areas out. The next day when I came home from work, the washing machine was sitting in the hallway area, and there were 2 large dryers and 1 dehumidifier. At the time of entry, I observed that my dog had fallen ill and had vomited and also had diarrhea. I also observed the sound level of the dryers. I went and purchased a sound meter, and the loudness was registered at 78 decibels. I measured the levels throughout the home and photographed the sound meter in various areas of the house for evidential purposes in case it comes down to that. It was so loud, I decided to temporarily move out of my unit and sleep on a friend's couch for 2 days. I did not ask my landlord for any relocation assistance during this time.
The drying company came and took the dryers out on Friday afternoon, and I returned home. However, my washing machine was still disconnected and I was unable to do laundry. The weekend came and went. The next week I didn't hear anything from my landlord or the remediation company, and was still unable to do laundry. I kept calling the remediation company, but they were not returning my calls. On Sunday, I finally hooked the washer back up carefully and did 3 loads of laundry, watching the entire time to make sure no water leaked or any problems, and it worked fine without incident. I called my landlord on Monday and asked him why my unit was not being repaired. He again acted ignorant, assumed others were taking care of everything, and I told him no one had done anything, so he got back on the phone and made some calls. On Tuesday, the estimator came out and took a bunch of measurements, and informed me and my landlord that they could not just replace the section of floor they removed since my floor is 12 years old, they wouldn't be able to match, and they would have to remove the entire floor. My landlord then realized this was going to be an expensive repair job, so aparently he called his insurance company, and I had to meet them in my unit on Wednesday morning. They took measurements, and determined everything was dried out, and they left. My landlord informed me that the insurance adjuster would be out the following day (today), and I would need to let them in.
This is where it gets really crazy. Last night, when I went to use my garbage disposal I heard a loud noise so I immediately shut it off. When I probed inside to find out what was down there, I found a rag had been balled up and lodged inside of my disposal! I looked at the rag, and this rag was definitely not one of my rags that I keep in the house. I find it very odd that my landlord would stuff a rag down my disposal. I can only think of two things, either he is messing with me or he is trying to build a case of "negligence" against me. Needless to say his prank didn't work, because I immediately removed the rag and the disposal still works just fine.
Today the insurance guy came. He informed my landlord that his policy limit for covering damage to the unit is only $6200 bucks. I am not sure what the next steps are... My guess is that the money won't cover replacement of the entire floor, so they will have to do some sort of half-baked job to replace the floor that was torn up by the remediation company.
However, if they do replace the entire floor, that will be a huge disruption to my life because myself and my dog will have to move out of the unit while they are doing the job.
So, I'm curious... What kind of rights do I have in this situation as a tenant? If my landlord fails to repair the damage to the unit, can I legally terminate the lease? Since the washer and dryer are included as part of my lease and they are owned by my landlord, wouldn't he be responsible for any damages caused to his unit by his appliances, or is this a huge Grey area for me?
Right now I am just waiting to see what he does next... But I also want to find out what my rights are, so I would gratefully appreciate any advice/info people can give me on this situation.
Thanks for your time!
Approximately 3 weeks ago, the washing machine in my unit malfunctioned, and the fill sensor did not shut off the water filling the tub, and it flooded over. This happened while my maid was there doing a load of laundry, someone I have complete confidence and trust in. He shut the machine off once he noticed the water flooding over, and he dried up the water with a towel.
Unfortunately, this water damage was not confined to my unit, it went downward and hit my 2 neighbors below me. I believe that the HOA insurance policy is covering the damage to the neighbor's units, but my unit was not covered by the HOA Insurance.
My landlord informed me on the day of the incident that he did not have insurance. He told me that he needed me to be patient and cooperative while he figured out a way to deal with the situation.
The next day an insurance company showed up and took photos inside my unit with my landlord present. I did not ask any questions, and was not asked any questions by the insurance agent - but I am assuming my landlord ordered a policy that day, and since the water damage was not visible at the time, the agent didn't become suspect.
After this, I did not hear from my landlord or anyone for several days. During this time I was unable to do my laundry because of the defective machine. I finally contacted my landlord, on Monday (6 days after the incident occurred) and asked him for a status update on the repair to my washing machine as well as any flood/mold remediation work that needed to occur. He tried to play stupid, acting like he assumed that someone else was taking care of it, and I told him no work had been done and nothing was fixed.
The next day, the repair man showed up, fixed the washing machine with my landlord present. During this time, my landlord was asking him very pointed questions which would try to place fault on me, asking him if overloading the machine was the cause, improper operation, etc. The repair man would not affirmatively answer my landlords questions and simply said "these things happen - it's very difficult to determine the cause of something like this". Later that day, the flood company showed up and installed a dryer in my home. I did my laundry that night because the flood guy told me they would need to disconnect the washing machine unit in order to remove the floor and the walls around it to dry those areas out. The next day when I came home from work, the washing machine was sitting in the hallway area, and there were 2 large dryers and 1 dehumidifier. At the time of entry, I observed that my dog had fallen ill and had vomited and also had diarrhea. I also observed the sound level of the dryers. I went and purchased a sound meter, and the loudness was registered at 78 decibels. I measured the levels throughout the home and photographed the sound meter in various areas of the house for evidential purposes in case it comes down to that. It was so loud, I decided to temporarily move out of my unit and sleep on a friend's couch for 2 days. I did not ask my landlord for any relocation assistance during this time.
The drying company came and took the dryers out on Friday afternoon, and I returned home. However, my washing machine was still disconnected and I was unable to do laundry. The weekend came and went. The next week I didn't hear anything from my landlord or the remediation company, and was still unable to do laundry. I kept calling the remediation company, but they were not returning my calls. On Sunday, I finally hooked the washer back up carefully and did 3 loads of laundry, watching the entire time to make sure no water leaked or any problems, and it worked fine without incident. I called my landlord on Monday and asked him why my unit was not being repaired. He again acted ignorant, assumed others were taking care of everything, and I told him no one had done anything, so he got back on the phone and made some calls. On Tuesday, the estimator came out and took a bunch of measurements, and informed me and my landlord that they could not just replace the section of floor they removed since my floor is 12 years old, they wouldn't be able to match, and they would have to remove the entire floor. My landlord then realized this was going to be an expensive repair job, so aparently he called his insurance company, and I had to meet them in my unit on Wednesday morning. They took measurements, and determined everything was dried out, and they left. My landlord informed me that the insurance adjuster would be out the following day (today), and I would need to let them in.
This is where it gets really crazy. Last night, when I went to use my garbage disposal I heard a loud noise so I immediately shut it off. When I probed inside to find out what was down there, I found a rag had been balled up and lodged inside of my disposal! I looked at the rag, and this rag was definitely not one of my rags that I keep in the house. I find it very odd that my landlord would stuff a rag down my disposal. I can only think of two things, either he is messing with me or he is trying to build a case of "negligence" against me. Needless to say his prank didn't work, because I immediately removed the rag and the disposal still works just fine.
Today the insurance guy came. He informed my landlord that his policy limit for covering damage to the unit is only $6200 bucks. I am not sure what the next steps are... My guess is that the money won't cover replacement of the entire floor, so they will have to do some sort of half-baked job to replace the floor that was torn up by the remediation company.
However, if they do replace the entire floor, that will be a huge disruption to my life because myself and my dog will have to move out of the unit while they are doing the job.
So, I'm curious... What kind of rights do I have in this situation as a tenant? If my landlord fails to repair the damage to the unit, can I legally terminate the lease? Since the washer and dryer are included as part of my lease and they are owned by my landlord, wouldn't he be responsible for any damages caused to his unit by his appliances, or is this a huge Grey area for me?
Right now I am just waiting to see what he does next... But I also want to find out what my rights are, so I would gratefully appreciate any advice/info people can give me on this situation.
Thanks for your time!