BG Legal: Water Damage, Landlord at fault?

[Headspace]

Sup armchair lawyers, need some help.

I went away from my apartment in Gainesville for about a month. When I came back everything in my apartment seemed fine other than the pest guy leaving my lights on. However we had a huge rain storm last night, and as I went through my bedroom to go take a shower, I noticed a large amount of water streaming off my ceiling fan in my bedroom. I only was able to get a bucket in time for the last five minutes of the storm, but still collected quite a bit of water.

My comforter and sheets were soaked. Since I had been gone so long, I was afraid it might have been happening for a while and it looks like it has. I had a protective sheet on my bed for dust and water that works pretty well (my girlfriend spilled a water bottle on my bed and the mattress was completely dry), but with the amount of water coming through and sitting there since I wasn't home, I have water damage to my mattress, which will probably lead to mold, ultimately ruining a really nice mattress. It had been raining in my apartment so long that my metal bedframe has rust on it.

Maintenance guys took a look at the side paneling of my apartment building before finding a hole about the size of my fist (if not bigger) on the roof, where water would come down the side of the building and enter my apartment (I'm on the ground floor of a two story building, the guy above me is completely dry).

My question is: can I seek damages from my landlord/management company? I haven't spoken with anyone with the company yet, as I'm seeking legal advice first (not just BG). My lease only states this with regards to them being liable: "Landlord shall only be responsible for personal injury or property damage caused by willful acts or negligence of landlord."

Would the failure to address the hole in my roof through inspection and maintenance be considered negligence and allow me to seek damages in order to replace my mattress and the rest of the bed that's ruined?

[Bardicrune]

You will probably need to file a claim with whomever you have renter's insurance through.

[archibaldcrane]

Would the failure to address the hole in my roof through inspection and maintenance be considered negligence and allow me to seek damages in order to replace my mattress and the rest of the bed that's ruined?

Yes.

Hopefully you can get satisfactory recompense by explaining the situation to them - but if not you'll need to go to small claims court.

Or, as above guy said, if you have renter's insurance they'll likely cover it.

[Headspace]

Unfortunately I didn't get renters insurance before I moved, although I was looking at options before my trip. Florida has pretty shit renters insurance from what I read previously.

[Ddz]

Renter's insurance costs like $10 a month! I hope you can get reimbursed through your property owner for this, but you should really sign up for a policy of your own. Our policy covers like $50,000 worth of stuff, including our wedding jewelry.

[archibaldcrane]

Plus a joint policy with your auto insurance makes it nearly free.

[Jaybar]

The hard part is proving negligence. Sure there is a hole in the roof, but were there documents/inspection notices that showed when the house was last inspected or when/if an inspection expired? You'll need the management to procure that - and probably a lot of other shit. Good luck. Shit sucks. Plastic sheets only.

[Howie Roary]

tl;dr: headspace wets the bed

[Headspace]

tl;dr: headspace wets the bed

pretty much.

Management said they won't cover damage, act of god and all that. So imma talk to mattress firm because i had that protection thing on it. If anything i may be able to get it cleaned and just replace my sheets and comforter. My lawyer said it would be tough to prove negligence here so oh well.

[archibaldcrane]

A hole in the roof of your residence is not a fucking act of god lol. They are responsible for providing a place of residence that doesn't leak water into your apartment for a month.

Your lawyer is lazy.

[Headspace]

A hole in the roof of your residence is not a fucking act of god lol. They are responsible for providing a place of residence that doesn't leak water into your apartment for a month.

Your lawyer is lazy.

The only way prove the negligence is for them to have known about the problem and ignored it. Since they responded and fixed it quickly once they were informed, it may be pretty hard to prove.

edit: also he said he'd get back to me later when he gave it more thought. it's free so i'll deal

[Callisto]

That's pretty much correct; if you had reported the issue and they ignored it that'd be one thing, but they can't really be liable if they inspected it in a reasonable amount of time previously and it occurred since.

[archibaldcrane]

Actually yeah you're probably fucked, unless you have evidence that it leaked before and wasn't repaired - ask your neighbors.

[Headspace]

Actually yeah you're probably fucked, unless you have evidence that it leaked before and wasn't repaired - ask your neighbors.

Neighbors are all dry. I'm just unlucky that the hole allowed quick access to my ceiling and not the dude above me. Seems like my mattress protector protected the majority of the bed, I would say only 5% is stained, so i'll talk to mattress firm about the warranty that protector is supposed to cover and then about cleaning it. If there's no risk of mold (water didn't get too deep in) then fuck it, i'll just get new sheets and stuff.

[Callisto]

Besides, the water is nothing compared to what I left on your mattress while you were gone.

[Headspace]

Nothing's worse than a Blackhawks bed set

[Callisto]

look that cost me like $30 at Target, don't make me call your lawyer

[tyven]

get your rich girlfriend to buy you a new bed

[Wulfgang]

Your landlord is liable. It's not an act of God. This thread is ironic because the same thing happened to my parents a few weeks ago. They're renting a house, had a huge flood from a rainstorm combined with clogged drainage (clogged drainage is equivalent to having a hole in your roof in terms of landlord negligence), caused ~$100k in damage to just their personal property. Landlord's insurance picked up the tab for everything that was ruined, is on the hook for anything that cannot be cleaned of mold / salvaged, paid their moving costs, and put them up for a week in a nice hotel.

The difference here is the $ amount involved. You would likely end up spending more on legal costs than the mattress is worth and I doubt a judge / small claims court is going to force him to pay your legal bill on top of the mattress. I'd drive a hard stance with him and see what happens; at the least, try to make him pay half or you'll contact counsel. Should work.

[Headspace]

get your rich girlfriend to buy you a new bed

who do you think's my lawyer haha