All Forum Posts by: Andy Pat

When i referred to the temp being maintained fairly well without heat, I mean a temp of approx 50's-60's (not comfortable to live, but certainly not enough to freeze any water pipe without an additional inciting factor). By air leak through the window, I was referring to cold air blowing inside (not heat escaping). I have even called maintenance twice to resolve that issue, but the window would continue to allow small amounts of cold air to come in through improper fitting. 

@Mike: Exactly. Who would leave a window open when its freezing outside? We made sure all windows were closed and all appliances unplugged before we left. 

The lease has no language stating a minimum temp that needs to be maintained during the cold months.

Thanks for the responses. 

I was referring to landlord's insurance for the building, not for our personal property. In case that they falsely prove that it was our fault and our insurance ends up settling a liability amount, wouldn't their insurance pay for the remaining expenses if any? (They required us to carry renters insurance before we moved into the apartment and we bought insurance as per their specifications). Yes, I'm aware that proving negligence if not easy and it will certainly not be easy in this case as the windows were closed when we left the apartment. The heater was off while we were away, but we have had the heater off for few days before while the windows were closed and the temp was maintained fairly well inside. Also, the building is very old and the other windows in our apartment would leak air when its windy outside. The pipes burst at 2 different places and one of them being near the front entrance of the apartment. I would believe the insurance agents/adjustors/inspectors would inspect the building before making decisions.

Also, our apartment unit is uninhabitable, but the landlord says its okay to live in there. (no flooring, ceiling torn apart, etc.). They state that renovation would begin within a month, but not sure when it would be completed. However, we re still required to pay monthly rent. Is there an authority that determines the safety of our living situation?

Also, the landlord casually told us verbally that they are preparing legal paperwork to evict us out of the apartment- on the basis of negligence. As an alternative, they would like us to break the lease. Seems they want us evicted, but they do not have a strong/valid reason until its proven. How long does eviction process take? and what do I need to know about eviction?

All this hassle of wasting time, energy and resources due to improper building maintenance and pipes bursting. Any input is greatly appreciated.

My roommate and I live in a leased apartment. Due to a water pipe burst couple weeks ago, the entire apartment got flooded with damage to all my personal property and several other units in the building. The lease office holds us liable since the water pipe froze and burst in our unit. They blame a big window being left open while we were away for a week. It is not true. All the windows were closed and all appliances unplugged before we left our apartment. The building is very old and we are not responsible for any equipment failure or damages. We have renters insurance with a liability of 300k. Adjustors are in the process of assessing damages. Our landlord states that the building damage could approximate a million$ and we would be responsible for costs exceeding 300k. My concerns are:

1) If damages exceed 300k and if they falsely prove us liable, we are in no situation to pay. Does their insurance kick in? How do we fight it?

2) We continue to pay rent, but the apartment is uninhabitable. Neither the landlord (lease office) nor our insurance will provide us temp relocation and currently we do not have a place to live. Do we approach a higher authority?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.