Fire in the apartment

[eleonela]

Hello,

I live in a regulated apartment. In September there was a fire in the apartmen below. As a result of the fire one of the rooms in my 2-bedroom apartment is totally destroyed. There is no window in the room, TV broke, half of my cloth got destroyed. Basically right now, the room is unusable. The landlord promised to make repairs.
Now it is the middle of November (and it is getting cold without a window in the room)and nothing is done. I started to withhold rent because I think it is ridiculous. My landlord is telling me that he can do nothing before he receives money from his insurance. And it is my fault that I did not had a renter's insurance. I have several questions:
1) How fast should my landlord repaired the apartment?
2) Can I recover from my landlord for my property destroyed during this fire?
3) Since the air quality in the apartment became very poor, I had severe allergic reactions. Can I recover from my landlord for that?

Thank you in advance.

Elena

[ChrisG]

first of all, having renter's insurance has nothing to do with having no window keeping out the elements. that should be the LL's first priority, to secure you a proper living space. your possesions are anothe rmatter entirely.

secondly, you and the LL signed a contract stating that he would provide that apartment, in a habitable state, and that you would pay him an amount in return. he is not living up to his end of the bargain, as the status of the property has changed. if he is dragging his feet on fixing the apartment, i certainly wouldn't be handing over the full rent. His excuses about the insurance may be valid to him, but they do not in any way change the fact that one of your rooms burned up and it smells funny now and is cold in there now.

Try to courteous, but be firm with the LL about your 'warrant of habitability'. if he can't/won't fix the apartment now, he must find you another place to live, as tho he was making renovations. if he forces you to stay in that situation, it's a breech of contract, no?

as for getting over on the LL for your destroyed property, probably not. i know in robbery situations, it if can be proven the LL was complicit (ie knew the front lock didn't work allowing burglars to enter), the LL can be held for lost property. So if the fire arose from some problem the LL knew about and should have corrected, then perhaps you could get something. but most of the times, that's what renters' insurance is for. but don't let that stop you from demanding your right to a place to live!

[eleonela]

Thanks for reply

Elena

[Phil Cohen]

You really should not withhold rent without getting advice from a good tenant lawyer. Also you may have grounds for a lawsuit or a claim against the LL's insurer. I'd suggest sitting down for a consult with one ASAP--it will cost a hundred or so bucks but it will be a good investment.

[mjr203]

good luck, fires are devastating things.

if anyone is reading this and does not have renters insurance, stop reading this now and go get renters insurance.

It costs so little a year for having the peace of mind that if you have a fire or a burglary or some other terrible thing happen to your apartment you will most likely be covered.

Find out how much it is, compare options and do it... you will want to perhaps investigate a "total contents" policy which differs from most "specific threat" based plans and be sure to get enough coverage to replace all your belongings.

Simply put it is foolish to not have renters insurance in a city where you live around people who may be careless and where murphy's law is in full effect most of the time.

POINTER

<small>[ November 20, 2002, 01:02 PM: Message edited by: pointerout ]</small>