Neighbors reporting water damage a month later (apartment, lease, tenant)

[achrya]

Hello,

I have a question and I hope someone can give me some insight. My apartment flooded last month and flooded the apartment below us as well. The day of my husband and I spoke to our downstairs neighbors and they told us everything was fine and that they'd handled the water before it could do any damage. We spoke to them again a week later just to be sure. Meanwhile we have had our apartment dried out professionally and carpet changes.

Today, exactly a month later, our landlord calls us to tell us that the downstairs tenants are saying their walls are bubbling up and that something is smelling of mold so now we're on the hook for what could be some pretty serious repairs. I am, honestly, taken aback by this. We reached out at a point where damage could have been minimized but now, a month later when who knows what may have developed they want money?

I'm not sure if this is some kind of scam? Should I be suspcious? Are we really liable for damage caused by our neighbors letting water fester in their walls for a month? I understand if we are, but I won't lie and say that doesn't chafe a bit.

Any insight is appreciated.

[Rabrrita]

What state are you in?
What was the cause of the leak?
Who's fault was the leak?
Is insurance involved?

[achrya]

Hawaii.
Flood was our fault
Our insurance covered repairs in our place but won't be covering anything else (only covered $1000 so anything beyond that is out of pocket.)

[Rabrrita]

This is a tough one because you did offer to take care of the problem and they declined. At any point, did you request the landlord allow or conduct an inspection for damages to that unit? Besides your word, is there any other proof that would stand up in court that a legitimate offer to inspect and repair the damages was made, and they refused?

[achrya]

Originally Posted by Rabrrita

This is a tough one because you did offer to take care of the problem and they declined. At any point, did you request the landlord allow or conduct an inspection for damages to that unit? Besides your word, is there any other proof that would stand up in court that a legitimate offer to inspect and repair the damages was made, and they refused?

My husband told the landlady that the downstairs tenants had told us everything was fine/that they'd managed to stop any water damage from happening and I informed our insurance of the same (I believe there is a recording) however we didn't make any official offers to inspect. I feel we made the attempt to find out if there were issues and were turned away, but I'm not sure if that matters.

If we'd known this was going to happen we would have gotten the 'Nope everything is fine!' In writing.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by achrya

Hawaii.
Flood was our fault
Our insurance covered repairs in our place but won't be covering anything else (only covered $1000 so anything beyond that is out of pocket.)

YOu have a renters policy with a maximum payout of $1000? You don't know how insurance works? You don't know about liability insurance and how that works?

That is hard to believe.

At this point you simply point out you were willing to handle it and they declined...so now they and the landlord own the problem. I hope the LL has better insurance than you do.

[Kim in FL]

Water damage doesn't always show up within 24 hrs or a week...you're still on the hook if they can prove your leak caused their damage. Instead of fighting them about it you should be working with them, you caused the damage, you said so yourself.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Did you inform the landlady of the flood? If so, you did what you should have done, by informing the landlady of the flood and taking responsibility.

The landlady then should have taken it upon herself to get the place inspected, dried out, etc. She could have charged you for the inspection, and the drying out process. By not doing this, regardless of what the other tenant said, she was neglectful in her duty to minimize damages.

Even if you didn't inform the landlord, it's my opinion that the other tenant was responsible to tell the landlord about the flood. It's very likely that the lease includes a clause that tenants are to let the landlord know about issues that may cause damage. A flood definitely needed to be reported, as further damage could obviously occur if not addressed right away.

Sounds like the other tenant didn't do their duty in reporting the flood in a timely manner.

So, I see the landlady as being negligent, and possibly the other tenant being negligent, as well, as far as doing their duty to minimize the damages.

Anyway, I'd fight this based on the above. You did your duty, LL and tenant didn't do theirs. It was their negligence that caused the damage to become severe.

In Hawaii, the law says people who are negligent share the blame. The simple explanation is that for the landlord to recover damages from you, you would have to be more than 50% at fault for the damage that occurred in the other apartment. I don't think that's the case.

I'd try a letter to the landlady like this. If this doesn't work, you should contact legal aid or your tenants union, etc.

Dear LL:

As you know there was a flood in my apartment on ___________________(date). The water from this flood entered the apartment below me, #________________.

On _____________(date), I discussed whether or not there was any damage to apartment #____________ with the tenants below me, and whether or not there was anything further I should do to minimize damages, and they informed me that they were able to clean up the water, and that there was no damage, and that nothing further was required of me to minimize further damages.

On ________________(date), I informed you of the flood, and the fact that water seeped into the apartment below me.

On __________(date) I received a letter from you, a month after the flood, stating that there was damage in apt #_________________ due to the flood , which occurred subsequent to my informing both you and the tenants below me of the flood, and my conversation with the tenants in apt #__________, in which I attempted to mitigate damages by asking if there was anything further needed regarding damage.

You, as the landlord, had a duty to mitigate any damages by inspecting apt #________ to be sure there would be no further damage due to the flood. The tenants in #_____________ had a duty to inform you of the flood, regardless of their opinion of whether or not they were able to clean up the water completely, as any flood of this type is likely to cause further damage.

The tenants in apt #_____________ were negligent in reporting the flood, which resulted in further unnecessary damage.

You, as the landlord, were negligent in insisting on a complete inspection and having any required work done that would have mitigated damages.

As Hawaii has a modified comparative negligence law. First, the injured party may recover only if he or she is less than 50 percent at fault. Second, if the injured party was also negligent, the original negligent party is only liable for the percentage of damages he or she caused.

As you know, I have repaired all damage to my apartment, at my own cost and/or through my renter's insurance policy.

The damage resulting from neglect by you and/or the tenants in apartment #__________, to immediately deal with any potential flood damage, is not my responsibility under Hawaii law.

Sincerely,

You

If you didn't inform the landlord of the flood, just leave that part out. The tenant below you should have done so. Regardless of whether or not they believed they cleaned up the mess.

Here is a link that simply explains Hawaii negligence law, in case you need to refer to it: http://www.yourpersonalinjurylegalguide.com/hawaii.htm

Even though it's about personal injury, the law would also apply to other types of negligence. Scroll down to the section titled "Negligence."

Good luck!

[sware2cod]

Contact the insurance company. There is probably as separate dollar amt for 'damage to others property" versus the $1000 you got for your property.

Just because you told the insurance company that the neighbors said "no damage", it doesn't mean case is closed forever. They should be able to add more damage to the claim for the neighbor's property since neighbor just found it now. They thought there was no damage before because the walls didn't swell yet and there was no mold smell.

Call insurance company and tell them what happened now. They will walk you through what to do.

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by Kim in FL

Water damage doesn't always show up within 24 hrs or a week...you're still on the hook if they can prove your leak caused their damage. Instead of fighting them about it you should be working with them, you caused the damage, you said so yourself.

Your post is at odds with legal principles. Rabritta and NoMoreSmoke are on the right track here as their are additional questions and information which must be ascertained before a definitive answer could be given.

Right now, the way I see it is that the tenants in the damaged unit and the landlord have proximate cause in this issue. Most likely, the most the OP could be held liable for is whatever inspection/repairs would likely have been needed at the time the other parties were informed of the issue and received the OP's offer to make it right. Their failure to act on that resulted in a growing problem and thus they must shoulder the burden for that.