What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
Hi all,
Me and my wife live in Virginia as tenants in an apartment building, it's a condo and our unit is managed by a management company. We have been informed that the water pipes in the build will be changed in two phases from top to bottom. Each phase is told to last 5 business days from 8am to 5:30pm. During these working hours we are not going to have water available in one bathroom in the first phase and in the other bathroom and the kitchen in the second phase. And, there will be 8-9 people coming in and out of our apartment.
On the other hand, we are expecting a baby which has due date very close to the construction dates so we will be having workers working in our home, we won't have any water in one bathroom and any access to our bedroom during day time and there will probably be a newly born baby with some family members around.
I was wondering if there's a way I can get compensated from the landlord or the management company for this. We were not told initially about this, and the construction company has been changing the start date of the project many times.
Thank you for your help in advance!
Re: What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
The condo association is not your landlord, and they are going to focus on completing the repairs and improvements to the property for the benefit of condo owners.
Having a bathroom out of service during business hours in a two-bathroom unit is not likely to be a significant issue, but having a kitchen out of service is more significant. But it seems to me that the inconvenience could be significantly with the provision of a water cooler with both cold and hot water nozzles during the second phase of repair.
The landlord has a duty to keep the plumbing in good and safe working order, and (even if the pipes in your unit are not leaking or have not failed) apparently there are significant issues with the current plumbing as nobody incurs this type of expense without a compelling reason to do so.
I'm not clear as to how the bedroom is involved.
Re: What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
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Mr. Knowitall
I'm not clear as to how the bedroom is involved.
Perhaps gaining access to the pipes in the wall.
Re: What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
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budwad
Perhaps gaining access to the pipes in the wall.
Even if access is needed in other rooms, as may be the case, it should not be necessary to make that room (or those rooms) off-limits for the duration of the entire repair. If they can be accessed at night, there is little reason why they could not be accessible at other times when work is not actively being performed in those rooms.
Re: What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
I took it to mean off limits from 8am to 5:30pm while the work is being performed.
Re: What are Your Rights if Water Will be Cut Off During Repairs of a Rental Property
If the "off limits" rule applies only when workers are actively working in the room, that would seem to be a reasonable safety rule.