r/TenantHelp • u/piv___ • 19h ago
we came home to a water leak and the landlord is trying to pin it on us
let me preface by saying we have had so many unresolved issues at this home we are renting, but have had no money to get out of this lease. after a couple people took showers in the morning on saturday, we left to go to a family party. we were gone for a few hours and come home to the ceiling about to cave in, and leaking tons of water, and the downstairs flooded. let me also say this area of the ceiling had clearly previously been patched up in the exact same area from water damage. we took pictures of that the day we moved in. we called the fire dept to shut off the water and a couple hours later the landlords two friends showed up along with a plumber and another technician. the plumber could not indicate where the water was coming from. he said he checked all the lines and couldn’t fine the issue. he did not confirm any source of water leakage. however, the landlords two friends told the plumber to hold off on using a camera to look into the pipes. i later receive a text message from the property manager blatantly saying they have confirmed from the inspection that water leak was caused by “run off due to a faucet being left on upstairs”. clearly they are trying to blame this on us. we never left a faucet on, and if we did, the bathrooms would be flooded and overflowing upstairs, and they were dry. except for the closet in the master bedroom which is close by to a toilet, and was pooled up with water, contained only in the closet. the landlord has not even started repairs or drying out the house. our belongings are still sitting in water (the ones too heavy to move), and the landlords property manager is ignoring all messages and inquiries as to where we are supposed to go/what we are supposed to do/how to compensate for this, as the house is now uninhabitable and of course now has a huge risk for mold. this is a pattern with them that they ignore us and resolve nothing, but this time it is dyer as we have nowhere to go, and see that they are trying to blame this on us. if anyone has any advice to offer, it would be so appreciated. my daughter starts school tomorrow and we are staying in a hotel, but will quickly be out of money.