Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in North Carolina
A pipe busted in my upstairs neighbors apartment, causing major leakage to my apartment. This happened at around 11pm. I called my landlord, and he arrived with a mop bucket and fans. Everything in my bathroom was completely saturated with just nastiness!! My bed completely soaked, water dropping from all four bedroom and bathroom walls. Shoes and fresh laundry, saturated. As i shockingly and frantically video recorded this scene, the lights of the bathroom hallway and bedroom went it, due to water damages. The entire power box is filling with water. My landlord was mopping!! I went to a hotel.
Ive had many problems with my landlord and he fails to correctly go about fixing anything. There was a smaller leak few months ago, I have no clue how he stopped the water but I do know all the DOS in my apartment was paint the bathroom ceiling and wait for the light to return that had failed due to water damage!! I am 23, and I'm clueless of what to do!!
Am I at all responsible?
Do I have the right to ask him to replace destroyed things, such as, damaged shoes and bathroom furniture, reimbursement for laundry?
Reimbursement for my hotel room?
1 Answer from Attorneys
No one likes to hear this...but, it depends. Landlords are usually not liable for emergency occurrences. This is why I always recommend that renters get renters insurance. Now, your landlord can be liable for your items, if he knew that this would happen or that the likelihood of it occurring was foreseeable.
You mentioned that there was a previous leak. If the previous leak was related to this leak AND the landlord did not act reasonably in repairing it, you can sue him for your items.
As for the hotel room, it would also depend on how long it took to make the home "livable." If the home was not habitable for a long period of time and he did not provide you with alternative housing, then yes, he is responsible. If it only took a short period of time or he offered to place you in another apartment then you would not be entitled tot he hotel room.
I recommend you see an attorney in your area who deals with landlord tenant issues.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
