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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    1

    Question Broken or Missing Sump Pump Causes Flooding in Basement Apartment

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Iowa

    My husband and I woke up one morning to water on the bedroom floor of our basement apartment. It was just a little bit of water and we thought it might have been caused by one of our pets knocking over a glass of water. We soaked up the water with towels. 20 minutes later, the floor had more water covering it. We couldn’t tell where the water as coming from so we called the landlord. It took about an hour for the landlord to answer his cell (it was approx 7:00 am when we started calling.

    We moved the mattress out of our bedroom and placed it and the bed frame in the hall and left to rent a U-haul. We came back 30 minutes later and the 3/4ths of the apartment was covered with an inch or two of water. The mattress and frame we had placed in the hall was now sitting in water.

    The landlord finally showed up around 8:30 with a portable sump pump and some garden hoses. Immediately outside our front door is a shared laundry and storage area. There was a “hole” there where a sump pump should have been located. An old battery for a sump pump was still located there but there was no sump pump.

    Approx 3 hours later most of the water still remained in the apartment. The landlord did some checking and discovered that the 2nd sump pump located on the other side of the house was not working. He checked all the fuses but they were all working. The landlord then left and stated he was going to go buy a wet/dry vac.

    Our insurance adjuster for our renter’s insurance showed up and told us the damage was not covered under our policy as it was considered to be caused by a “blocked drain.” We texted the landlord and left to speak with the Red Cross to locate temporary housing as there was still 2 inches of water throughout the whole apartment. The neighbor living in the upstairs part of the duplex says the landlord showed up about 1 hour after we left and removed the portable sump pump and hoses.

    My husband and I found a new place to rent within 3 days. During those three days we returned to the apartment as often as possible to save whatever we could. The water did not completely drain out of the apartment for 4 days. During that time we texted the landlord repeatedly requesting a dumpster of some sort for all the garbage we had to throw away. By this point, the landlord was only occasionally answering our calls and texts.

    After we moved what we could out, we met the landlord to return the keys and he asked for copies of the pictures and video we had taken during the flooding and for an itemized list of everything we had lost.

    I believe the landlord may be trying to get his insurance to pay for our losses. I don’t thing his insurance will cover it. My question is: If his insurance doesn’t cover the damages could we sue him? If we decide to sue him, how likely are we to win the case?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Broken or Missing Sump Pump Causes Flooding in Basement Apartment

    The cause of the flooding was what? This sounds like a lot of water - can you actually establish that the sump pumps, if working, would have been sufficient to keep your apartment dry?

    Was your landlord aware that one of the sump pumps was missing? If not, and you know why not, why wasn't he aware? If you know, when was the last time the sump pumps were examined or inspected? How long have you lived in the unit?

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