Found an issue on this page? Let us know and we will look into it as soon as possible.
Is my landlord responsible to pay for damage to personal property?
Anonymous7 views2 answers
I am renting an apartment. Over the weekend, there was some damage caused to my son's gaming system due to water leaking rom the air conditioning vent. I don't know yet if it is due to a roof leak or due to condensation in the a/c system. I do know that none of the other vents in the apartment are leaking. just the one lcated directly above the gaming system. Over the last 5 months I have had many problems with the a/c unit and the landlord had it reapired several times, most recently about a month ago. Is the landlord responsible to pay for the replacement of the gaming system due to either a leaking roof or the condensation is the a/c? By the way, the a/c was set to the same temperature as it has been for the last 8 months or more as I do not adjust it.
Very possibly. If you were able to show from the report of an expert (an HVAC technician) what the cause of the water entering the air vents was you'd be in a strong position to demand the LL repay you for damages--likely avoiding court. If you ended up in small claims, the experts report would go a long way toward strengthing your case.
Generally, the obligation to maintain residential tenancies are governed by Florida Statutes (83.40---83.681) and is written in fairly staightforward and easy to read language. Florida Statute 83.51 outlines duties and obligations to maintain premises. Also, assuming you have one, you should closely read your written lease or rental agreement to familiarize yourself with any provisions that may apply. But if the landlord has been attempting to have the a/c repaired to try to correct 'many problems' for several months, were the water problems related to a/c issues or the roof? Did you have written correspondence with the landlord about the kind of problems that you thought you were having that should put him/her on notice of the type of problem that caused the damage--excessive a/c condensation or roof leaking? If so, how bad was/is it? If the problem was 'minor' or in a limited area of the apartment and the landlord made good faith efforts to have the repairs made, given the fact that you yourself haven't been able to determine the source of water damage (and you live there) it may be difficult for you to establish liability against the landlord. Also, if you were aware that there was an ongoing water problem in that specific area of the apartment, a question may be raised as to why the gaming system was left in that area and whether it could have been moved to avoid being damaged. Depending upon the extent of the damage and value of the gaming system, and your abiliity to determine how the water damage occurred, if you have renter's insurance, you may want to check if your loss is covered. If the gaming system was purchased by credit card, depending upon how recently it was purchased, some card companies provide certan types of loss coverage for certain product purchases, and you can check with your card company if it provides coverage.
