Water Damage and How to Proceed?

[Tyler Perleberg]

I am a landlord of a condo in a high rise. I have been getting so much conflicting information from people from all over on how to proceed.

I use a standard Minnesota Residential Rental Lease Agreement.

My renter clogged the garbage disposal, and cycled the dishwasher and left. They never contacted me and it flooded the unit. The management associated with the complex found dripping water two floors down. My renter contacted them to let them know that they flooded the unit. (Never contacting me about it until I reached out a day after being contacted by the management company and telling them to get the remedial team in there to dry stuff up)

I am at a loss for what to do...I have contacted my insurance and have an adjuster coming out to look.

Currently I am still drying the unit out, but in the meanwhile, my neighbor started knocking down their wall and found mold. My wood floor has buckled and will need to be replaced. I have not removed the cabinets yet because I was told to wait for an adjuster.

I believe the tenant is liable, and at fault for damages. How do I collect or proceed going forward. On top of that I had the tenant co-sign with their parents who are also liable.

Any comments are appreciated.

[Susan Gillespie]

@Tyler Perleberg

Document everything with notes and photos, including dates and all communications you had with your tenant on the issue. Hopefully you'll be able to work things out, but be prepared for the worst.

I can recommend an attorney who works with real estate investors. He can advise you on options or help if the situation escalates.

Most importantly, what do you want from this situation? The MN standard lease has a timely notice of damage clause and it sounds like the tenant didn't comply. Can you repair the damage and keep on good terms with this person? If you're the landlord, they should have quickly notified you when this happened. In my experience, it's a big red flag that they didn't.