Hey r/personalfinance, I've been a long time lurker but I finally made an account just to ask this question. Figured you guys might know a thing or two about renter's rights.
I live in a quadruplex in Texas and yesterday morning there was a fire on the side of one of the units. I've heard mixed stories as to what the cause was from various tenants and maintenance workers. I've heard that the electrical wiring on the side of the house caught fire on its own and that was the issue. I've also heard that their trash can caught fire and this ignited the electrical wiring. The electricity company turned off the power for all four units and stated that until the landlord hires an electrician to fix the wiring in unit D it's not safe to have the power on for the other units. I've been without heat or electricity for over a day and best case scenario i should regain power tonight. Also, the stove is electric. As a result i have incurred expenses that i otherwise would not have incurred. Due to the stove being electric i had to eat out for all my meals for the past day and a half because I was unable to cook anything. I also had to purchase ice, batteries, various candles, and lights. Some of my meats in the refrigerator may also have gone bad. After hearing that i may be without power for a few days I contacted the landlord to see if he was willing to pay for a hotel stay overnight or reimburse any expenses associated with the power outage. He was unwilling to and stated "You're a young guy, can't you find a friend or family member to put you and your perishables up for the night?". I was unable to find anybody so i had to spend my night in a dark, freezing home.
Is this a situation where as a renter I should be reimbursed for the expenses or is it just an unfortunate situation where i have to suck it up and pay the cost out of pocket?
Submitted December 03, 2014 at 03:00AM by ZeroAlbion http://ift.tt/1ydF2f7 personalfinance
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