Dealing with Water Damage in a Rental

This weekend's rain was definitely welcomed, what with 2007 having little to no rain so far. For some of us, however, the rain brought some surprises. We found out during friday's incredible thunder and lightning show that there might be a hole in the roof since the walls in the bedroom essentially started raining.

It's important if you've been affected (or afflicted) by the weekend's rain that your landlord takes real action. If the walls have gotten wet like mine, calling water damage professionals is imperative. You have 24-72 hours to get the moisture out of the walls before mold begins to grow and then you've got a much bigger, and more expensive, problem on your hands. And this does not just mean opening a window and turning on a fan!

My landlord has brought in a team of professionals and has organized for the drywall to be demolished and re-installed. I'm in the city of Los Angeles and so as long as my apartment is 'uninhabitable' he's required to provide me somewhere to live. He offered a local motel but I found a sublet on craigslist that was the same price. So I'm set up there on my landlord's tab. I'm also not paying rent for the days that I am out.

Check out these links for more info on renter's rights:

• California Apartment Association
• LA Weekly: Tenant Rights
• Find your renter's board on Oh My Apt
• LA Housing Site
•Santa Monica Rent Control
• Los Angeles tenant Rights

Comments (13)

at least they're not bleeding...

Thanks Laure for the info.

My landlord hasn't even apologized for the inconvenience let alone offered to fix my apartment!

I need to move ASAP.

There is alot I can do legally but I just don't feel like they will fix my apartment the way they should and I'd rather not deal with this again so I think my best bet is to just get them to let me out of the lease early and without much notice (its up in Nov.) I would hope that they would use that time to really fix the place up before some other unsuspecting renter has the same problem.

I'm so sad. I love living in Santa Monica but I just can't afford much here. What a nightmare.

BTW - your landlord sounds awesome. Does he have any other units available? :) (with working roofs!)

It's funny i've really been inconvenienced by him in the past but for some reason it's all coming together now. I've had some pretty major issues with the building, but that's what I get for liking the 'charm' of it.

Come move to venice! I'll keep my eyes peeled for an opening. Otherwise maybe mar vista or west LA to stay close to the westside!

What a pain--are you living in the wet-ness right now?

Oops, somehow sometimes, I get default logged in as maxwell. But it's just me, laure.

I've been sleeping at my boyfriend's place for now but my cat unfortunately lives in the wetness full time.

I did a major clean up yesterday so it appears to be ok but the walls are wet, the paint has bubbled and pulled away from the wall in several places and it smells like a rain puddle. The carpet is dry but stained. The water that came in was yellow and nasty so it left it's mark on everything it touched that I couldn't scrub.

When I approach the manager about what happened his reply is "well it's not raining anymore, geez"

Thanks Mr. Slumlord.

Thanks so much for your advise!

Ugg, what a mess. It will be interesting to see how long the reconstruction takes and how long you'll be displaced. Since there's been a mould problem there in the past, it will have to be demo-ed, then the time it takes to make sure everything is dried out before it's re-done. Patience.....good luck !

Laure- Boo! I'm sorry you're going through this. Sounds like it is being handled well though. When it's all over and done with, go out and rent These Dark Water - it'll make you laugh and laugh...

lol IS IT WRONG that when I first saw the wall picture I thought... oh great ANOTHER stupidly-"inspired" wallpaper. Sorry that you had to go thru that though and hope it all gets fixed quick. Hugs.

DJLucky--

That is hilarious. Maybe you're on to something, I could make a killing unless you killed me first for doing it....

Eek! This isn't good. There is really two things I can say in response to this:

1. Take care of this immediately. Failure to fix water damage can allow bacteria to grow in your home.
2. I've said it on another post, but it's important to read your lease entirely before signing it. Ask your landlord any questions you may have, otherwise... you could be handling all of the fire, mold, and water damage repairs on your own.

You are very fortunate to have such a knowledgable and generous landlord. Unfortunately too many landlords (and property management companies) try taking the cheapest option available when dealing with water damage. Invariably this often translates into just adding a few fans and often leaving the underlying issue unfixed.

I've seen them dealing mold by spraying bleach on it - not a very good solution and it wont get rid of the mold either.

Many people are unaware of how critical it is to hire the right water damage professionals when a disaster like this happens, thank you for pointing that out! Fans and bleach are not going to cut it, and you may have to point that out to your landlord. They'll be saving money in the long term if they hire someone who knows what to do about the problem.