Since their radiator was leaking I assume "turning off the water" meant "turning off the hot water heat."
Since their radiator was leaking I assume "turning off the water" meant "turning off the hot water heat."
You did state something that is odd. You said you never heated the space. If you mean you were in control of heating the place but due to inadequate funds, never spent any money to heat the space, you may very well be liable for the damages to the building.
As as to your damaged posessions; if you had insurance, make a claim. If you didn't, you are likey out of luck. Based on your description so far I'm not seeing where the landlord would be liable for your damages.
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I agree but the later statement of never heating the place suggests possibilities that would make that irrelevant.
Absolutely correct. We did not heat the place before-hand, either. The
maintenance-man did turn the radiator's water supply off, but it had never
occurred to any of us to turn the heat on for the night. The maintenance
man himself noted it was cold, commenting of as much, before he left. I
had thought if heating were necessary he would have commented, or we
may have received a missive of some sort.
From what I have gathered from you all thus-far, it seems that was an erroneous
assumption, sadly. Thank you very much for your individual time.
We've just recently gone through a Polar freeze (even in the deep south) where places like Ohio have been below zero for the past several days.
You believe you would have to be TOLD that heating is necessary in such type of weather?
Gail
I am still confused about one thing though...if the water had to be turned off to the radiator, how could they have heated the space?...at least during the time when the pipes actually froze?
Would the argument be that enough heat would have been retained during that 14 hour period to keep the pipes from freezing had they unit been adequately heated before hand? I don't see how that's possible when it was as cold as it was.
"I am still confused about one thing though...if the water had to be turned off to the radiator, how could they have heated the space?...at least during the time when the pipes actually froze?"
Quite true...although the OP have also claimed that they have "not now or ever heated the apartment". They then mention "it never occurred to any of us to turn the heat on for the night" which would imply there was some type of heat source available to them.
Gail