condo water damage caused by a washer from our upstairs unit?
January 12, 2010 by
Filed under condo water damage
Our ground floor condo was damaged badly by water down pouring from a malfunction washer machine upstairs. Our guest reported when it happened early Saturday morning, we called the management company who manages the unit upstairs. The property manager came out, looked around and decided that the washer was fine, he ignore my guest’s comment “it is the washer machine, I smelled laundry detergent” completely. In the early afternoon, right after our guest clean up water on our floor, water poured down again due to the renter’s running washer. We had to call 911 (we are 300 miles away) to get police officer out there to stop the renter upstairs from running her washer. We called our HOA, our HOA management called a plumber in. Plumber cut out a hole in our ceiling and found it was not a pipe problem, again, the plumber could not access the upstairs unit until Sunday close to noon. The plumber wrote a report about the cause, was the washer on
Sunday. Long story short, the owner’s insurance company came out and decided that they are not going to pay for anything. Our insurance company would not pay for it because the upstairs owner does have policy. We are left with thousands of dollars of mitigation and repair fees. Our HOA advises us that by law, it is the responsibility of the owner of the unit above us. We have no idea of how to pursue this issue. Any advices are appreciated.
You are well beyond answers help in this matter. You should contact a lawyer who practices in the jurisdiction your condo is located. He will likely notify the responsible parties in writing that they can save a lot of money by taking care of the problem before he files suit. The lawyer will likely cost you less than the repair work and his cost may be recoverable in any legal action. You also want to make sure an independent agent inspects completed work as water damage can lead to mold problems if not properly corrected.
No drought in my mind that it’s the owner’s responsibility to see to it that this will never happen again. Owner should have corrected the problem right there on the spot. Renter pays for damages by owners request. She pays owner for damages and then owner turns around and starts repairs needed to your unit.
No one pays, it’s lawyer and small claims court time. You gotta do, what you gotta do.
The first thing I would get is proof. Certain Water Damage professionals have IR Thermal Imaging Cameras, They are used to locate moisture in walls with out damaging the structure. We use it to document the water path back towards a source. It also documents damage to your property. With this evidence and a report from a Certified Water Damage Technician it is a slam dunk. Show this to the Landlord of the unit above you.
Have the water damage company start work. You are responsible to mitigate your loss. However if the source (washer) is not repaired you will constantly have problem every time they turn on the washer.
Your insurance company is obligated to pay for your damage. It was an act of god. They then go after the insurance company of the owner upstairs or the owner himself/herself It does not matter if they have insurance or not. Check your policy. Ask your agent where it says they will not cover you because the other party does not have insurance. If they do not comply tell your insurance company that your are going to call the insurance commissioner and file a complaint.
Make sure everything you do is in writing because if this doesn’t work documents are your evidence in court.