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Landlord's Refusal to Repair Water Leak Resulting in Damage to Tenant's Property

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  • 06-06-2010, 09:31 PM
    ny_tenant
    Landlord's Refusal to Repair Water Leak Resulting in Damage to Tenant's Property
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of:
    New York, Niagara County




    My landlord has ignored my requests to repair my flooding basement and plumbing backup for a few months now. They have ignored repair request for several things as well which aren't as important as this.

    As a result, my $1500 pool table, $1200 total gym machine, and various items such as clothes, and things in storage which don't hold much value have been ruined.

    I never could take a shower and do laundry within the same hour because it would flood. After a big rain, it has nearly 12" of water over the entire basement which is not going down.

    The hot water tank which is gas, wont even run because the pilot is now underwater, forcing me to have the gas shut off and to go without hot water for myself and my children.

    I have withheld the rent and they claim they will start eviction process tomorrow, on monday unless I pay plus a late fee.

    What Can I do?
    Can I sue for my expensive items?
    How can a landlord do this free from penalty or even refuse to fix a serious problem and basically force me to move due to unhealthy conditions or stay and live with mold, filth, and no hot water, which is completely unsanitary?


    Hope someone can give me some good advice.

    Thanks
  • 06-07-2010, 08:08 AM
    SChinFChin
    Re: Landlord's Refusal to Repair Water Leak Resulting in Damage to Tenant's Property
    Quote:

    Quoting ny_tenant
    View Post
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of:
    New York, Niagara County




    My landlord has ignored my requests to repair my flooding basement and plumbing backup for a few months now. They have ignored repair request for several things as well which aren't as important as this.

    As a result, my $1500 pool table, $1200 total gym machine, and various items such as clothes, and things in storage which don't hold much value have been ruined.

    I never could take a shower and do laundry within the same hour because it would flood. After a big rain, it has nearly 12" of water over the entire basement which is not going down.

    The hot water tank which is gas, wont even run because the pilot is now underwater, forcing me to have the gas shut off and to go without hot water for myself and my children.

    I have withheld the rent and they claim they will start eviction process tomorrow, on monday unless I pay plus a late fee.

    What Can I do?
    Can I sue for my expensive items?
    How can a landlord do this free from penalty or even refuse to fix a serious problem and basically force me to move due to unhealthy conditions or stay and live with mold, filth, and no hot water, which is completely unsanitary?


    Hope someone can give me some good advice.

    Thanks

    Based on what you are saying, I would say you have serious health and safety issues at this rental.

    Each municpality, or county, has a "code enforcement" section, which may be part of a larger department. My suggestion is for the first time, get hold of your local representative, such as a councilman, or alderman, and let him or her direct you to the correct section within the county or city government. Sometimes, they would even call for you.

    Your local rep should be in the blue pages of the local white pages, and if you don't have one handy at home, it should be in the public library. I found the name of my local councilman the first time around because his re-election poster is down the street on a light pole, and his office address and phone was in the white pages.

    One other effective way is to get hold of a local attorney (through legal aid if you qualify), have him or her place your rent payment into escrow till the problems are fixed. You can withhold rent yourself as well, but if you don't place your rent into escrow, you might find yourself getting evicted.

    Keep in mind with the type of problem you described, code enforcement may order you out of the place on health and safety grounds, so you may have to temporarily move.
  • 06-08-2010, 09:49 PM
    ny_tenant
    Re: Landlord's Refusal to Repair Water Leak Resulting in Damage to Tenant's Property
    thanks for the reply.

    I will certainly try these suggestions.

    I do have 1 question for you. If code inforcement orders me to move, does that mean that I am eligible for re-embersement from the landlord, in the form of rent, assuming its cost is low enough?
  • 06-09-2010, 01:01 AM
    SChinFChin
    Re: Landlord's Refusal to Repair Water Leak Resulting in Damage to Tenant's Property
    Quote:

    Quoting ny_tenant
    View Post
    thanks for the reply.

    I will certainly try these suggestions.

    I do have 1 question for you. If code inforcement orders me to move, does that mean that I am eligible for re-embersement from the landlord, in the form of rent, assuming its cost is low enough?

    Yes, you certainly are entitled.

    Where I am, it's called "emergency dispossess", a tenant was asked to moved down the street from me, and in many cases like these, with not much notice, such as you go to work in the morning, and locked out when you come home at night.
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