Water damage to laminate in rental (insurance, homes, tenant)

[Dexx122]

I've been living in this rental for almost 2 years, the previous tenant was 2 years and the living room laminate was kept as is. It has cracked and separated tiles and it bows in some places and has bubbles. They left it as is and the pictures were recorded and written down when I moved in. About a week ago my fridge filter was changed and it caused a leak and water got onto the laminate and made it bubble. About 14 of the panels. I was so upset becasue it was naturally an accident. And I was going to tell my landlord and my roomate freaked out on me and told me not to tell them anything. And shes been harassing me about it for the past 2 weeks. I cant do anything to fix it. (I had the fridge fixed) and I want to tell the LL becasue it was a total accident. Now I'm being harassed everyday and shes making it seem like I purposely did it. And she started hiring people to give estimates on the damage. Which makes no sense becasue it's not our house.. I'm so stressed out about all of this I dont know what to do or who to ask.. I just moved here and I feel terrible about the floor, and she threw an estimate of 2400$ from some floor company at me via email, and I refuse to touch the floor becasue it's not my house. I know LL have accidental coverage but everyday I'm just being harassed. I fear for myself if i told them and they reached out to her. (Shes already gotten a letter from the rental company about her behavior towards them) idk what to do can anyone help? I want to leave, but I dont want her to sue me, I feel like shes that type of person... she is just yelling at me saying the LL is going to sue me for damages. But them not knowing makes it so much worse I've always told my LL everything in the past, and I hate not being able to say anything and I HATE living here!

[Kthnry]

Whose name is on the lease? Both of you? Or just one?

[Dexx122]

Just her. She renewed on her own. I verbally told her I would stay ubtl the 2 years which is Nov.

[Kthnry]

Do you own the fridge? (You said "my" fridge filter.) Or did it come with the rental? Did you change the filter yourself and do something that caused the leak? It's unclear whether the leak was your fault or if it was an equipment failure.

Chances are good the landlord's insurance deductible will be more than the cost of the repairs, and it's never a good idea to submit trivial claims. Are you prepared to pay the repair costs yourself?

I can understand why she's getting bids for the repairs, but she ought to coordinate the work with the landlord instead of trying to repair a floor that was already damaged before this incident. He might want to change out the flooring entirely.

$2,400 sounds like a lot to install new laminate in one room, much less repairing a few warped boards. Do you think she's trying to rip you off?

[TexasRedneck]

Most importantly, you can't legally do any repairs to the space without the landlord's permission.

[Dexx122]

I agree and I told her this. Ams she said "just in case they come at me to sue me" and im like..I don't understand why you think that. But I got tired of explaining myself

[Dexx122]

Originally Posted by Kthnry

Do you own the fridge? (You said "my" fridge filter.) Or did it come with the rental? Did you change the filter yourself and do something that caused the leak? It's unclear whether the leak was your fault or if it was an equipment failure.

Chances are good the landlord's insurance deductible will be more than the cost of the repairs, and it's never a good idea to submit trivial claims. Are you prepared to pay the repair costs yourself?

I can understand why she's getting bids for the repairs, but she ought to coordinate the work with the landlord instead of trying to repair a floor that was already damaged before this incident. He might want to change out the flooring entirely.

$2,400 sounds like a lot to install new laminate in one room, much less repairing a few warped boards. Do you think she's trying to rip you off?

I bought the fridge off craigslist. The guy showed me how to replace the filler when I bought it, so when I went to change it, I used the filler made for the fridge (his wasn't) so there was a piece jammed in there and that caused the leak.
The guy who repaired ut said that piece was pretty damaged.

It all comes back to telling the landlord... I've spoken with 3 different people who rent homes and they all don't know why shes not saying something because they can at least see the damage and replace the floor as a whole like you said, especially since the last tenant did damage to it and they left it as is. The floor still looks normal, no discoloration, cracks or lifting panels. Just three bubbles from the water.

Im sure shes trying to rip me off. I could pay for the cost, but I want to know the actual cost from the person the LL uses So I have a better idea and were can work together, but it all convers back to telling them what happened. Which I was threatened not to do.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

You already know you need to tell the landlord, no matter what your roommate says. So maybe it's better to just tell the landlord, and then your roommate can quit freaking out about it because it will already be done.

[Dexx122]

The LL has now been told, (after another childish fight) and they sent someone to look at it and the guy walked around and said it needed to be replaced, and I spoke with the LL company today and they said im not on the lease, so im free to go. But now that the floor needs to be redone, idk if the insurance from the LL will pay for it or what... he was looking at other cracks and bows in the floor and I dais those were recorded upon move in. He wasn't very informative...

[Kthnry]

This is what your roommate was afraid would happen - since she's on the lease, she will be held responsible for the cost of your mistake. I hope you will pay for the repairs, or at least contribute. It's the right thing to do.