Floor Problem: Renter in San Francisco (lease, construction, renters insurance, inspection)

[starshine11]

I got a question about the place that I rented. Me and my partner rented a place in 6 months ago, and right now, due to heavy foot traffic, the floor got a big hole, and we looked up the contract and the contract didn't state that whose responsible of it (however when we asked the contractor to get some estimation of the floor and they said that it should be the landlord to take the responsible on it, but when we asked the landlord and they don't want to take any action on it) so I would like to know in this case what should I do, since if we need to repair by ourselves, its about $13,000, since the baseboard and everything we need to repair, please help.............

[Faworki1947]

CALL the Building Inspector and the LL can deal with this
a major hole like your talking about is NOT YOUR PROBLEM unless of course you caused it

[JetJockey]

By heavy foot traffic do you mean elephants? Large horses? I find it hard to believe that simply 'heavy foot traffic' could cause a hole in the floor.

[Faworki1947]

thats why I said call the BI..... seems inless the OP had a herd of elephants the floor should hold up
even useing the room as a mosh pit shouldnt do major floor damage in 6 months .. I'm thinking structure problems and the LL IS responsible for that

[starshine11]

Well, JetJockey, of course we don't have elephants and large horses show up in our store, just humans (mostly are girls, since we sell cosmetics) and thank you for Faworki1947, however I would like to know how we can get in touch with the Building Inspector since we don't know where we can contact with them, thank you.

[DowntownVentura]

SFGov: Department of Building Inspection
SFGov: Department of Building Inspection: Filing a Complaint with the Department of Building Inspection

I am curious, what kind of hole is this? Are you on the ground floor and you can see dirt through the hole? I think there is something more serious than foot traffic. Wood rot, termites, bad construction, ???

[virgode]

How does a floor get a whole from heavy foot traffic, the way you stated that sounds like
theres something your leaving out and accepting responsibility for the damage.
If you have renters insurance it covers
damages caused by you, for example a kitchen fire would be covered.
The LL would still be responsible for contracting someone to fix the
damage, but would recover the cost from you or your insurance.

Contacting your local Code Enforcement branch for an inspection
would be another way to get some action to correct the problem.
The LL will be given a time frame to fix or face fines, they can also
make determinations such as habitability.

If this is a commercial lease and your running a business,
aren't you concerned about someone getting hurt?
Your post is unclear, you need to state all the facts when posting in order
to get answers that can actually help.

Originally Posted by starshine11

I got a question about the place that I rented. Me and my partner rented a place in 6 months ago, and right now, due to heavy foot traffic, the floor got a big hole, and we looked up the contract and the contract didn't state that whose responsible of it (however when we asked the contractor to get some estimation of the floor and they said that it should be the landlord to take the responsible on it, but when we asked the landlord and they don't want to take any action on it) so I would like to know in this case what should I do, since if we need to repair by ourselves, its about $13,000, since the baseboard and everything we need to repair, please help.............

[starshine11]

Our store is on the ground floor, and before we rent it, it used to be an aquarium store, and the floor is already got some cracks on it (it is vinyl) and its uneven at all, when you step on the floor is quite bouncing in some parts. Since it got this problems, we told the LL and ask them to fix it before we sign the contract and then they told us they will fix it, and when we do the check up work, and we told them the floor still quite bouncing and they said it's fine, since the vinyl has the cracks and it will be like this, and we don't know anything it, we sign the contract, and we did some replacement of the vinyl.

After 4 months, some parts of the floor starts got some dips and we bought something which can fix the dip on the floor, however the dip problems got serious, and it become to a hole, and it starts to spread around, and we called contractors to take a look to fix it ASAP (we don't want ppls get hurt), and all of them find out the baseboard got to problems, and they all said we need to remove the whole floor baseboards and replace the new one, if we just did part of it, sooner or later we need to did it again and they all suggested us to contact with the LL, because they all think it is the business the LL needs to take care of it (its about the baseboard and they thought maybe the joints got the problems too, and they all has the same thought since before it's sell aquarium stuffs, and the water runs under the floor, that's why the floor baseboard got problems and it start to cracks to become a hole).

However, we contact with the LL, and they said it is commercial and they don't take care of it at all, and for us, we don't think it is not our responsible to take care of it, since the hole its not us to cause it at all, and it is about the baseboard and we think it is part of the basic structure of the store, is that correct? Please help...

[virgode]

Post #6 has some links that may be helpful, you may also consider contacting an attorney.

[starshine11]

thank you for the help ^^