Flooded Basement - Debris Cleanup

[Rachel Fazio]

I am currently renting a single family home in Maryland. Back in July, there was a storm that caused over 18” of water to flood the basement.

For some background info, we informed our landlord immediately and they dropped off a pump later that evening that cleared the water out by the next morning. The basement has flooded in past but never this bad. No important belongings were damaged because we kept everything in bins on shelves, so damage done to our personal property is not a concern. The hot water heater was damaged in the flood and had to be replaced (it was replaced 3 days later after we informed the LL). For the basement, it took over two months for repairs to be done mostly because the LL spent several weeks getting estimates and the repairs did not actually begin until over a month after the flood. Most of the contractors refused to do the work the LL wanted because the LL was unwilling to pay for repairs that would survive another storm. The only work done on the basement was dry locking the exterior/basement walls and removing water damaged stucco - no repairs to the gutters or adding a drainage system/sump pump like several of the contractors suggested. The contractor who did the work plainly told us this was a small bandaid on a much larger problem. Also, we have repeatedly asked for a mold assessment to be done on the basement but that was largely ignored. 5 weeks after the flood the LL came by to spray the walls with bleach but that is it.

Now, the work has finally been finished but the basement is a disaster. There is so much dust, dirt, and debris in the basement. We have been unable to use 1/3 of the house we pay rent for, actually more if you count the fact that the dining room and spare bedroom are entirely being used as storage for stuff usually kept in the basement. When it flooded a year ago, it took us over 30 hours of cleaning to get it to a functional cleanliness level where we could use the basement again. This flood was significantly worse. Is the landlord responsible for getting the basement professionally cleaned after the flood? We have not asked for a rent reduction the last two months and the LL has not offered any discount. Can we ask the LL to get the basement professionally cleaned? What are our options here?