Last week, I started seeing some warping of my hardwood floors in the kitchen. Upon closer inspection, I saw that there was some moisture. I contacted the building manager who came and inspected it. He said that was definitely a water leak behind the wall.
I called a plumber immediately to come check it out thinking the leak was from me and that it could affect the tenants below me (I live on one of the top floors). The plumber came out and found that the unit above me was the one with the water leak coming from their refrigerator.
The leak was stopped but the damage had already been done. The leak had been going on for multiple days and caused a lot of damage to my kitchen and laundry room (they share the wall where the leak was happening).
An emergency services and restoration company (Harbro.com) reached out to me and asked if they could come inspect my unit (I never reached out to them, they called me. My building manager had told me to expect a call from them). They checked out my home and they said that a portion of the hardwood floors had been damaged and that they also need to remove parts of the drywall because of the water damage to the wall.
The next day, Harbro, the emergency services and restoration company, came out again, and I thought they were going to just inspect the unit again, but they started work on removing parts of the drywall and setting up air machines that blow into the walls to dry everything. My contact at Harbro reached out to me and said that she was surprised they had started work already because we had not signed a contract yet for them to start work. I said yes send me the contract via email and we can go from there. As of now, I have not signed the contract yet.
She also said that I should contact my insurance immediately and tell them of the situation. That the insurance company will give you guidance on what to do and that they will probably go after the insurance of the tenant above me for damages. So this is where the second issue comes in - I don't have home insurance.
I'm not entirely sure what I should do next. I feel like I cannot stay in my home right now. Look at the state of my place: PICTURES.
So here are my questions:
1) I don't have home insurance. What should be my next step here?
2) What should I do regarding the emergency services company? I have not signed the contract already but they started work. I'm scared that I will not be reimbursed for damages and by not having chosen my own company to do the work, they will charge me a lot and rip me off?
3) Is this home considered inhabitable right now? Can I stay at a hotel or airbnb until everything has been fixed and will the tenant above me have to pay for this?
Thank you for reading and your advice.
Submitted June 26, 2016 at 09:02PM by ctkim http://ift.tt/296dfL2 legaladvice
No comments:
Post a Comment