I have a situation almost exactly like one of the questions in the Advice section. I own and live in a downstairs condo. The upstairs condo is owned by someone who rents it out. This week, my unit was flooded because the tenant upstairs ran a broken washing machine. That's right, the washing machine was broken, the tenant knew it, and ran it anyway, hoping to "get one more load out of it." The machine overflowed into my walls and ceiling and pouring into my light fixture in the kitchen. Sounds pretty much like the question in the advice section, right?
Here's where I'm stumped. We went to the owner of the upstairs unit, and she says that neither she nor the tenant are legally culpable for the costs of water extraction, because the insurance agent explained to her that it's basically considered "collateral damage" in dwelling units like ours where flooding in one unit may affect the other. This sounds completely NUTS to me. Am I off base? It's not like their unit was flooded in a rainstorm and the water leaked into our unit. The water came into our unit as a direct result of a [dumb] action on the part of her tenant--running a washing machine that she knew to be broken. How is it possible that neither of them are legally culpable?
I'm annoyed enough that I'm considering small claims court if they don't at least cover the deductible. Do I have a case? If so, who do I name as the defendant in this situation: the owner? the tenant? Both? Thanks!
Here's where I'm stumped. We went to the owner of the upstairs unit, and she says that neither she nor the tenant are legally culpable for the costs of water extraction, because the insurance agent explained to her that it's basically considered "collateral damage" in dwelling units like ours where flooding in one unit may affect the other. This sounds completely NUTS to me. Am I off base? It's not like their unit was flooded in a rainstorm and the water leaked into our unit. The water came into our unit as a direct result of a [dumb] action on the part of her tenant--running a washing machine that she knew to be broken. How is it possible that neither of them are legally culpable?
I'm annoyed enough that I'm considering small claims court if they don't at least cover the deductible. Do I have a case? If so, who do I name as the defendant in this situation: the owner? the tenant? Both? Thanks!