Chronic Water Leakages

[Ryan Haney]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in Washington State.

Over the past several months my apartment has had water leakage issues. Water leaks out from my hallway wall and saturates the carpet in my hallway and bedroom. This has happened 8 times. Each time the apartment management has addressed the issue within a few days.

Usually addressing the issue takes multiple entries, removing the shelving and sink from my bathroom (where the access to pipes behind the wall is), and plugging in large industrial dryers to my unit's electrical outlets so they can run, loudly, for days.

The water leaks smell horrible, are extremely disruptive, and have given me admittedly minor financial burdens with cleaning supplies, a small vet bill (my dog lapped up some of the water and started vomiting), etc.

I've complained mercilessly to the management and thus far all they have been willing to do is give me a $100 visa gift card. They have refused to do anything else.

I'll note that I did withhold this months rent until the latest leak was resolved, and they have charged me late fees and served a 3-day notice because of it. This was my mistake for not putting it in escrow.

Can I take them to small-claims for this? Can I get out of my lease? Any advice would be appreciated!

[Mr. Knowitall]

The cause of the water leaks is what?

[Ryan Haney]

The water leaks are caused by failing pipes in the wall of the building. As the maintenance crew has described to me, the main wet wall for the building ends on my floor. Below my unit is just foundation. So, from what they've told me, any pipe leakage from ANY apartment directly above me (I'm the lowest of fourteen floors) potentially drains down the wall and ends at my apartment.

Thus far they have emphasized as much as possible that not all of these eight leaks are from the same specific source. It's just that all sources drain into MY unit.

Update:
The regional manager for the company that manages the building has informed me that they will allow me to break my lease early with no penalty, and move up my month of free rent (which I already had). Thus, January would be free, and my last month. The other option given to me is that I may keep the current lease and move into a different unit with no penalties. That, in addition to the $100 Visa gift card, is all they are doing. I'm not really satisfied with this, but is there anything more I should try to get?

[Ryan Haney]

So I've had the ninth water leak this evening. I would ask for another month of free rent but frankly I've no interest in staying in this building any longer. I can't afford to drop and move until the end of January, which is when my revised lease expires. Do I need to take these guys to court or at this point is there anything they are legally bound to do?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Since you intend to stay until the end of January, you're getting a free month's rent, and you're getting an early release from your lease, I'm not sure how much more you could expect to obtain if you took them to court (presumably after you move out). If you want to try to recover more, I suggest making sure that you have good documentation of your requests for repair and their responses and actions, the number of days when your apartment is uninhabitable (if any) or unpleasant to inhabit, witnesses who can attest to the extent of the problem and the odor, photos of the water, the fans, etc.... anything that could help your case.