I rent in California. Had water leak, landlord wont fix. HELP!?
So this past Sunday, the angle stop on a toilet in my house gave out and flooded about 1/2 the downstairs of my home (approx 400 sq ft of living space). I have a newborn baby so luckily she woke me up for a feeding and I heard the water gushing downstairs. I spent the next 6 hours with a mop and towels trying to get all the water up.
I emailed my out of state landlord and told her what happened. She called me an hour or so later and said she would call her handyman. He couldn’t make it (doesn’t work Sundays I guess) so she gave me permission to get a home inspector friend (who also does mold remediation & contracting work) to come over and take a look.
He determined that the angle stop on the toilet corroded and that the pressure valve to the house was busted. Our water pressure was 130 while normal pressure is 60-80. THIS LEAK WAS NOT OUR FAULT.
The plumber came and fixed the toilet and water pressure. The landlord gave us permission to rip up the carpet in my daughter’s bedroom (next to the bathroom). We rented fans from home depot and had them run for 2 days to try and dry the walls out.
My contractor friend came back 2 days later and tested the moisture levels in the walls… many read well over 18%. He gave my landlord a $1700 bid to open the walls and fix it the right way. She was floored, said she couldn’t afford it, and wants her handyman to come and spray bleach on the walls and cross our fingers that mold doesn’t appear. I have 3 children under age 5… I can’t cross my fingers and hope for the best.
I have a 2 year lease which expires Dec 2010. What recourse do I have? Can I give her notice that if it is not repaired PROPERLY I will need to leave? My lease reads that if a portion of my property becomes uninhabitable by no fault of my own, I have a right to leave with written notice. But if it is not fixed correctly, can I still leave? PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks
Your friend is a scum bag. Trying to scam your landlord.
This repair should cost around 200, if that.
Unless there was more then an inch of water the wall boards should be be wet, they are not all the way to the sub floor.
Dry the carpets, spray a mild bleach solution on the base boards and you should be done.
Those moisture levels are OK, the drywall holds moisture, this is normal and nothing to worry about. In fact if you ever buy a new home in CA you will run a humidifier for awhile, otherwise the air is true dry from the new drywall sucking up all the moisture.
Call the Building and Safety Department or Housing Dept. at your local city hall. If your in Los Angeles call 311 and ask for them.
References :
http://www.ladbs.org
A one time leak is not a mold causing situation, if dried out as you have done. Do you expect that a moisture level is going to read ZERO ? There’s more moisture than that in the air. There is no need to open up these walls to ‘dry them out’, and there is certainly no need to spend $1700 doing so. Your contractor ‘friend’ is trying to take your landlord for a ride.
References :
Your LL has right to determine what repairs are necessary and proper, what she is willing to pay for, NOT you or your handyman friend.
LL is entitled to take appropriate steps to remedy the problem, and you need to cooperate. That means letting the handyman in, and continuing to run fans, keep good airflow. Certainly LL should reimburse you for fan rental.
The possibility that there might be mold in future is NOT a breach of the lease by LL entitling you to claim it is uninhabitable. Your LL has acted in good faith to address problem. If you choose to breach lease, you will have consequences.
References :
real estate investor
It sounds like the landlord is acting in good faith. If it were your home, and you really couldn’t afford $1700 to preempt a potential problem, you would probably be crossing your fingers too, or at least obtaining a second opinion. If mold does become an issue, then yes, you would have a basis for breaking the lease, and it may well be worth telling the landlord that she’s risking losing you as a tenant by not taking care of the situation now, before it becomes a problem. She should reimburse you for the fan rental and estimated electricity costs.
It might also be worth checking what is covered under your renter’s insurance if you have it, and her landlord’s insurance. An apartment I rent out once flooded due to a leaking pipe in the unit above. The building management repaired the pipe, but it was too difficult to trace the fault, so I paid for the water damage out of pocket. Nonetheless, it would have been covered by my landlord’s insurance; your landlord should at least investigate whether this is an option for her as well.
References :
California Civil Code; I am a landlord.
Your friend is a scum bag. Trying to scam your landlord.
This repair should cost around 200, if that.
Unless there was more then an inch of water the wall boards should be be wet, they are not all the way to the sub floor.
Dry the carpets, spray a mild bleach solution on the base boards and you should be done.
Those moisture levels are OK, the drywall holds moisture, this is normal and nothing to worry about. In fact if you ever buy a new home in CA you will run a humidifier for awhile, otherwise the air is true dry from the new drywall sucking up all the moisture.
References :