Flooding- landlord and tenant responsibilities

[cs00052]

I live in an apartment complex in Georgia. Everything was going fine until a few days before the recent flooding issues. Before anything else was flooding we noticed our apartment was flooding in the corner. So we called emergency maintenance that moment. They came and looked at the floor and basically said, don't know what to do. Then came the next day and didn't pull up more then a corner of the carpet. And at this point it was still raining and the water was out 6 foot. And then we didn't see anyone for 3 more days. When someone came, it was a contractor who looked around and put a dehumidifier in our apartment and soaked up the standing water. Then a week later some men came to work on the landscaping outside. in the mean time all of our stuff is still getting wet with the rain and all of our towels, blankets, and even some clothes are drying up some water. Then a week later the sheetrock was cut open. and left open for a week. I could see mold on the insulation and there was already mold in the upstairs bathroom. Then finally, the sheetrock was patched back up, and the apartment flooded again. It had been a month, and nothing had really been fixed. We were also told our rent would be reduced and put on hold, but it was only reduced. We received an eviction notice saying we had to pay rent, and also they added a late fee. So we still paid rent. Which I don;t think is right. It doesn't take a month to fix something. Everything from the living room was in the kitchen and the downstairs was unusable. Basically, it's been horrible. And then finally the contractor convinced them to let us move so he could rip open all the walls to find the real problem. the apartment agreed to let us move, but offered no help and gave us less then a week to get our stuff out with a days notice of moving to a different apartment. Oh, and while we were moving out everyone from the building was saying the last tenants had a problem with flooding and the complex knew about it. Even the contractor told us that. While the property manager is telling us "it's an act of god", but really it's negligence. What kind of rights do I have? They willingly let us move into a home with flooding problems, and then offered little and ridiculously long-time waiting help...

 

[jharris352]

While I sympathize with your plight, you aren't being very fair with the apartment complex about the flood. I work within sight of the worst of the Austell/Powder springs flooding. 750 homes were outright DESTROYED. This wasn't a problem isolated to you, and every contractor for miles is working to restore some normalcy to everyone's life. When you have a 100+ year flood it is not negligence it is an act of God.

Now, that having been said, if your apartment is uninhabitable, you do not owe rent. Take pictures, break the lease and move. No one is going to sue you. If there is mold behind the sheetrock it is a health hazard.

They aren't going to sue you and if they do they will lose. Move. Good luck. Sorry for your problems.

 

[cs00052]

How is it not negligence if this apartment had these issues before we moved in and they still allowed us to move in knowing the issue, but went back and said they didn't know the apartment flooded all the time with the previous tenants? The previous tenants and everyone else in the same building knew about it, and we moved in not knowing about this un-fixed issue. So really, it would not have flooded due to the rains, just like every other apartment that was fine. The apartment would have been fine if the problem had been fixed the first few times. It's not just because of the heavy rains.
It just bothers me we were forced to pay rent and had a late fee put on top of it after being told it would be put on hold.

 

[jharris352]

Maybe I didn't read your post well, and because I live here and know of the flooding that just happened I added information to your post. If this apartment floods in the normal course of events and they didn't tell you, then they very well may be liable for any damage and unable to enforce rent against you.

If it flooded because of the torrential rains and the rising of Sweetwater Creek, then you may not have a case. Does that make sense?

 

[cs00052]

yes, I completely understand that thank you. There is not creek around us and ours was the only apartment in the complex to flood. Plus it started before the rains ever became bad. Then we were informed by neighbors this was a regular thing for our particular apartment. But I am unsure what action to take, because this manager is beyond ridiculous and talking to her is like talking in a circle. And I would hire a lawyer, but that seems like a waste of their time