My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Oregon
On 12-08-09 the HOT water pipes froze in my apt and flooded everything. The pipes are located in the attic, suspended above the insulation & no foam insulation on them either. {was pvc pipe} This is an area of the country that freezes every winter.
This is a HUD owned property for low income and I can't afford renters insurance.
The kitchen ceiling fell on top of me, many things were ruined or broken, fire dep't came to help. This is the second time this has happened in the same apt and started in the same spot. I moved in in May '09 just after they finished putting up new ceilings, floors, carpeting, etc..
The insurance company and management told me I am not covered b/c I didn't have renters insurance. I checked out their insurance co. online and they state, most contractors over charge so if an owner can make the repairs themselves then they will award the $ to the owner and split the savings.
This means that they bypass inspections for repairs. The last pipe burst was just jury rigged back together and they tried to rig it again this time but when they turned on the water all the pipes in the attic burst and started leaking in all apts so they had to actually replace all the pipes with proper expandable plastic pipes meant for this area.
Since this is a case of negligence on their part due to it being a second flood in the same place do I have a chance to sue them for repairing and replacing my property? I have pictures and witnesses of all of it. {I had company at the time}
How legal is it for an insurance company to encourage self repairs with general handymen and no inspections? The handyman also fell thru the ceiling of the empty apt they moved me into and they just put a piece of cardboard over it on the attic side and I had to get an inspector to come out to force them to fix it correctly as the insulation kept falling all over my carpet and my heat went straight up to the attic.

