{"id":12870,"date":"2017-10-13T10:01:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T15:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abodo.com\/blog\/?p=12870"},"modified":"2021-01-05T09:27:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T15:27:35","slug":"ask-abodo-leaky-pipe-gets-patch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/ask-abodo-leaky-pipe-gets-patch\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Rentable: The Leaky Pipe Gets the Patch"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Rentable, we\u2019re committed to helping you find the perfect apartment. But we also care about what happens once you\u2019ve moved in. We started Dear Rentable to help you navigate the renter life, from rental agreements to roommates. Each week, we\u2019ll answer a new user-submitted question. <\/span>
\n<\/span>Got one? Email us at <\/span>claire@rentable.co<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s question comes from a renter in Milwaukee<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Rentable,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I live in a really old house. It\u2019s got its fair share of issues: sloping floors, windows that rattle during storms, a refrigerator that dates to the Eisenhower administration. Still, I love it \u2014 and the rent, which is low.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>My problem has to do with some leaky pipes. Last month, a pipe in the ceiling over my closet burst, soaking a box filled with my winter clothes. I was out of town for the week when it happened, and by the time I got home the pipe had been fixed. Still, my clothes were wet for a week in a dark closet, so they were all moldy and ruined by the time I saw them.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

What do I do? Can I make my landlord pay me for the damages? There was some really nice stuff in that box, and it\u2019s starting to get cold.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

My Only Longjohns Dried Yesterday<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>
\nDear MOLDY in Milwaukee,<\/span><\/p>\n

My first question is: Do you have renter\u2019s insurance?<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>If you do, your policy probably covers damage to your belongings due to burst pipes. You just need to file a claim, and your coverage will pay you for the damages. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>If you don\u2019t have renter\u2019s insurance, you should really get it. It\u2019s cheap, and it can save you a lot of money.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>But hindsight is twenty-twenty, right? <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Bad news: Unless you can prove that the pipe burst as a result of negligence on your landlord\u2019s part, he or she is not on the hook for property damage. \u00a0So, if you could tell that the pipe was in trouble, and alerted your landlord to that fact, and he didn\u2019t do anything, then you might have a case. Otherwise, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/span><\/p>\n

My advice? Bring it up with your landlord anyway. You live in a small house, and you clearly like it there. My guess is that up until this point, you\u2019ve been on good terms with the landlord. Let them know what happened to your clothes, and see what they say: They might offer to replace the clothes, or take a bit off your rent this month.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>If they don\u2019t, you haven\u2019t lost anything. (Except your longjohns.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Warmly, <\/span>
\n<\/span>Claire<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this week’s “Ask ABODO,” Claire advises a renter whose clothes got soaked by a leaky pipe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":12871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[149],"tags":[164,29],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12870"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20590,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12870\/revisions\/20590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}