Water damage in house we are renting.

Hi,

I hope someone can help me.

We moved in the house where we live at the moment on September. After a couple of months, after several contacts, the management company finally sent someone to take a look at the bathroom since there was water dripping from the kitchen ceiling below it.

There was a leak in the pipes under the shower booth or what ever they are called, and the leak was fixed. First they were going to fix the bathroom floor too since during the time there had been a leak, all the wood structures seemed to be in quite bad condition. Eventually the just fixed the leak and did not do anything else despite the condition of the floor.

You could clearly see that the leak had been there long before we moved in, and when we moved in there was already then a water mark in the kitchen ceiling.

Now when it has gotten a bit warmer the bathroom has started to smell and couple of the tiles near the leak point have gotten loose, so the damage should have been fixed in the first place.

Because of our first landlord (whose claims eventually be proved to be just an excuse not to return the deposit, we got the money though) in Ireland I have gotten a bit sceptic concerning issues like these and I'm afraid that no matter what we do, they might blame this on us.

Should we have been entitled to receive in the first place something in writing that the damage is not caused by us, since that's what the guy sent by the management company said, or at least any sort of explanation/proof about what has been done and what has not been done.

Maybe we should have asked in writing an aknowledgement that there was a watermark in the kitchen ceiling before we even moved in, but that's a bit late now.

What should we handle this case so that we will not get blamed on this.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can give an advice.

To be honest I don't see how this could cause the landlord to keep the deposit. Water damage from a leak like that cannot possibly be your fault.

whistler said:

To be honest I don't see how this could cause the landlord to keep the deposit. Water damage from a leak like that cannot possibly be your fault.

Click to expand...

No, it shouldn't cause that. Can we just prove some how that we have not caused that. Ok, it should be clear to any one how know at least something about houses that a damage like that can not be caused within just the perioid of time we have been living there.

I'm probably just too worried because the previous landlord in another house claimed that the house was full of mildew and the floor damaged because we did not ventilate it enough during the 3 weeks we lived in it nad refused to return the deposit. I had to take the case to PRTB because of that

For peace of mind I would ask the management company to provide you with written evidence that they were out to repair a leak. Then log a complaint with them as to the state of the tiles and why you thing they are like that. Keep a copy of all the complaints you end them.
When I was renting the landlord came in one day and gave out to me because the border was coming off the wall in places. Surely it was up to him to decorate the place. It hadn't been touched in 3 years. Is that not the advantage of renting? That the landlord is responsible for decorating, repair of any genuine defects etc?

DeskJet said:

the previous landlord in another house claimed that the house was full of mildew and the floor damaged because we did not ventilate it enough during the 3 weeks we lived in it nad refused to return the deposit. I had to take the case to PRTB because of that

Click to expand...

This is unbelievable. What did you sit in one room for the entire 3 weeks and not open any doors. Not that you should have to do that anyway.