Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Water leak in apartmentt - who is liable?

Depends upon who owns the property, and what caused the sink to overflow. If you own the property, you are liable. Try turning in a claim with your homeowners insurance.

If you are renting, the landlord may be liable, provided you can prove that the overflow in the sink was not a result of your action or inaction.

Re: Water leak in apartmentt - who is liable?

Did the leak happen in your apartment or in another apartment? You did not provide enough detail in your question. However I will say this; you are going to need to inform your management either way so that they can get a crew in their to force dry the carpets. If you do not promptly deal with this toxic mold can grow out of the water. I do not have enough information to opine on liability.

Re: Water leak in apartmentt - who is liable?

It sounds to me as though this is an apartment, you are the tenant, and the overflow occurred in your apartment.

Usually, in order for a sink to overflow, two things must occur: (1) the drain is blocked, and (2) the water is left running. If so, the liability rests with whomever did these two things, or either of them. Further, if your guest were to blame, then you'd be liable to the landlord.

If neither you nor your guest was responsible for either plugging the drain nor leaving the water running -- which would be unusual but not impossible -- you may be able to shift legal responsibility to the landlord or someone else, but that would require establishing and proving some additional and non-obvious facts such as a broken pipe, a burglary and vandalism, etc. etc.