Water Leak in The Basement While Renting The Property. Who Should Pay for Repair?

codinghelloworld on 26/04/2018 - 13:42
Last edited 26/04/2018 - 14:24 by 1 other user

Hi everyone.

I am renting the property, few days ago I found a water leak in the storage room, under the carpet. The storage room I only use to store my luggage.
This is the front door of storage room
You can see water is leaking under carpet

And the inside
The water is spreading over this area slowly.

The storage room is next to the bathroom. When I open the storage room, I see the carpet is wet, it does not happen quickly but it continue to wet slowly. Few days ago I tried to use hair dryer to dry it, but it seems to happen again, so I think there is water leak in the foundation/basement.

My question is: What should I do?

Contact the agent to get him contact the home owner to get it fixed?
Or I have to pay to fix myself?

Poll Options

  • 45
    Contact the agent.
  • 1
    Pay own money to fix.
Home & Garden

Comments

  • tsunamisurfer on 26/04/2018 - 13:50
    +4

    Contact the agent and they will organise the repairs which will be paid by the landlord.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/04/2018 - 13:54
    +1

    Landlord.

  • PissLUR on 26/04/2018 - 13:55
    +1

    contact your agent. or read your tenancy contract/agreement.

  • Hybroid on 26/04/2018 - 13:57
    +1

    What should I do? Contact the agent to get him contact the home owner to get it fixed?

    Exactly that. Contact agent and advise with pictures. Most likely it's landlord responsibility to fix unless you have explicitly caused the damage.

  • thatonethere on 26/04/2018 - 14:04
    +3

    You should not delay in reporting damage - as it will get worse and more expensive for the owner to repair (and more inconvenient for you too probably).

    Potentially you could be found to be negligent as you are required to tell the owner/manager of the property about damage as soon as possible (a few days wouldn't matter - but if you left it for say months and they could prove it…)

    • codinghelloworld on 26/04/2018 - 14:16

      Yeah, know that. I reported to the agent, hope it will get sorted soon.

      I have kids so I don't want the kids breathe the smell of mold, especially for long period.

      • bobbified on 26/04/2018 - 15:15

        I reported to the agent

        Make sure it's in writing somewhere! Send an email to confirm any phone discussions. Your first contact with the agent about the issue is important.

        • codinghelloworld on 26/04/2018 - 15:21
          +1

          Sure thanks, I wrote him an email, attach with some clear images.

        • bobbified on 26/04/2018 - 15:36

          @haisergeant:
          Good to hear - water damage can easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars (or more) and you'd want to do everything you can to protect yourself from potental liability claims.

        • Randxyz123 on 26/04/2018 - 15:43
          +1

          @haisergeant: I’d be getting on the phone to him tomorrow morning to make sure it will be taken care of.

  • trevor99 on 26/04/2018 - 14:28

    With that mould it looks like it's been there for a while. Hopefully the source is easy to find like a cracked pipe.
    Can be a difficult one though, excavating the garden or whatever is on the other side.

  • garetz on 26/04/2018 - 14:58
    +3

    Its up to the owner to maintain the property, one of the reasons to rent since you dont have to pay for that yourself.

  • altomic on 26/04/2018 - 15:36

    bikies

  • tonyjzx on 26/04/2018 - 15:52
    +2

    indian unarmed bodyguards

  • AlienC on 26/04/2018 - 17:03

    Landlord or the neighbours.

  • whooah1979 on 26/04/2018 - 18:00
    +2

    You didn’t happen to piggyback the toilet tap with a garden hose?

  • Dont Care on 26/04/2018 - 19:27

    If you used the water you are actually at fault. If that was a leak the damage would be far more significant than what you show in the photo. Do you have pets or young kids who are not using the toilet for wee wees

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