QUESTION
Is my building manager responsible and can I break my lease?
Asked on Aug 24th, 2017 on Landlord and Tenant Law - New York
More details to this question:
Second time in 6 months, we've woken up to waste water (human or otherwise - it is brownish yellow and smells of feces and mold) covering every inch of our bathroom in our apartment. It has ruined towels, bath mat, shower curtain, bags, both times. It has made the bathroom unusable and both times, has caused me to miss work while I deal with it. The water (overnight while we are sleeping) comes dumping through the vent in our ceiling and drips through the cracks between the ceiling and walls (around the edges). The first time, the management company agreed to pay us for our damaged property after I insisted (they only gave me $40 for property valued at over $100). The second time, they refused, stating it is not their responsibility. They claim that the apartment above us had their toilet overflow and it is totally normal for the water to leak down to us and is not their fault nor due to their negligence. Are they responsible to reimburse me and can i break my lease?
1 ANSWER
Civil Rights Law Attorney serving Rockville Centre, NY
Partner at
Lori Nevias, Attorney at Law
1 Award
Your management company is lying. While your landlord is not responsible for your neighbor's overflowing toilet, they are responsible for the pipes inside the wall that leak into your bathroom through the ceiling and "cracks between ceiling and walls" (there shouldn't be cracks- that's also your landlord's responsibility.) I hope you took good photos of the damage and have receipts for the cost of replacement of everything. Assuming you can prove what you described, you can break your lease due to your landlord's breach of warranty of habitability.
Answered on Aug 27th, 2017 at 2:40 PM