Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 17:58     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
You live in Leesburg and your kids go to LCPS? As long as your new apartment/house is within LCPS, your kids can stay at the same school as long as you drive them there.

https://www.lcps.org/o/doss/page/family-relocation-after-the-start-of-school
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 15:48     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Breaking the lease if you so desire is a no brainer is this is for sure a violation of the implied warranty of habitability. Re asbestos, a good remediation company can do this while people are in the home using negative pressure, just like they would with mold remediation. But should you live through it? I would say no. If you do, I'd make sure whomever is doing the remediation is licensed / reputable. I'd also pay a mold/asbestos/environmental inspector to get an independent opinion so I knew the truth about what my family is likely exposed to, and deduct that from rent.

If you really want to stay in the home (though I agree with others you should just cut your losses and move on), find a temporary rental and your withheld rent towards that. It's a simple case to make that, even though the top floor is livable, it doesn't accommodate your whole family, and combined with potential mold/asbestos concerns, landlord needs to provide you another place to live.

I am a PP who went through something similar. The best decision I made was to engage a lawyer who was ready to make demands on my behalf and escalate if necessary. That lawyer never had to escalate: once I informed my landlord (politely) that, given the situation, I had a lawyer who was going to help ensure my family's safety, he was a lot more responsive and accommodating. Don't get walked all over here, talk to a lawyer.
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 15:24     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Good advice so far. As a Virginia landlord having gone through a similar situation recently, you have the right to terminate the lease with 14 days notice per the Virginia landlord tenant act: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodepopularnames/virginia-residential-landlord-and-tenant-act/

Making the argument for a rent reduction and/or using an escrow hold makes sense when we’re talking about inconvenience. But asbestos, I’d be moving my family out.

Decide what your goal is. Find the language you want to use in your lease first. Where the lease is silent, check your county law. Where the county law is silent, check state law. Most good leases follow the language of the L-T act.
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 14:16     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
You need to look into whether or not the have a certificate of occupancy for those basement bedrooms.
What a weird floor plan for a single family house.
They have asbestos and now mold is growing I guarantee. I hope you are searching for a new place to live.
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 14:13     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. New wrinkle we learned today when a crew came was that there is asbestos (testing from last week came back positive). So now we have begin the remediation process. According to the crew, they will need to seal off the basement fully to do abatement which means we now lose our washer/ dryer.

We’re in Leesburg. So I’ll have to look into the law more, though generally VA is much more landlord friendly.

Honestly I’m most stressed about the time I’ll have to be home to let crews in and out. The landlord lives in Lynchburg so he’s not coming up to let people in.

Oh he would be coming from Lynchburg because we would have moved out.
Asbestos, I’m gone. Buh Bye!
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 14:12     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:About a month ago a pipe burst in a wall while we were at work and flooded our entire basement. Our house has a walkout basement that contains 3 of the four bedrooms in the house. The top floor is just the primary bedroom/bath, kitchen, living/den and small dining room. The basement is not livable as there are about a dozen fans still running. Work is expected to begin soon.

Here’s the issue: we rent the house and our 3 children have been displaced from their room. The landlord has said the house meets the definition of livable and the three kids can sleep upstairs while repairs (which could take months) take place. Kids are ages 7-12.

We have rented this house for 4 years and have 9 months more on our current lease.

I’m at a loss of what to do. I don’t want to break the lease and move/ most likely lose being in boundary for our current school, but having five people live in approximately 750 square feet with one bed/bath is getting unmanageable.

I assume we have no recourse here. Yes, we have renters insurance. The landlord is not very open on what their homeowners insurance covers (does it cover us at all?).

Any suggestions on making our current situation manageable or what we should be asking the landlord for?



If it is "livable" but as described I would just move. Id ask to break my lease.

If it is not livable ask to not pay rent so you can use that money to live elsewhere.

Is he right technically?


Yes, he’s technically correct as we have AC, a working kitchen, a bathroom, running water, etc. We are just cramped and will be for the foreseeable future. The other issue is he doesn’t come let the workers in, we have to do that. So I’m also running through PTO as I WOH. I’m just getting frustrated with the process.

They are running all over you.
You need to break the lease.
Your landlord is full of crap!
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 10:57     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You do not need to wait for the landlord to let you out of the lease. You should move now and also sue them for personal property damage and being a lying pos

BTW, what do you mean fans are running? Did they remove the damaged drywall and insulation? If not, it’s all a fool’s errand

Get out while you can


No they can’t remove the drywall bc the ceiling tested positive for asbestos. So they can’t tear anything out until his insurance and the hazmat team talk and formulate a plan. Fans are still running to dry everything out.


I'm the poster above who had flooding at my home. It sounds like the asbestos removal will be extensive if they are finding it in the drywall. They are probably going to rip out all of the ceiling and leave a lot of the basement bare. It's going to be expensive, noisy, and messy. I actually wonder if people are allowed to live in a home during asbestos removal because of the exposure.
Anonymous
Post 09/05/2024 08:45     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:About a month ago a pipe burst in a wall while we were at work and flooded our entire basement. Our house has a walkout basement that contains 3 of the four bedrooms in the house. The top floor is just the primary bedroom/bath, kitchen, living/den and small dining room. The basement is not livable as there are about a dozen fans still running. Work is expected to begin soon.

Here’s the issue: we rent the house and our 3 children have been displaced from their room. The landlord has said the house meets the definition of livable and the three kids can sleep upstairs while repairs (which could take months) take place. Kids are ages 7-12.

We have rented this house for 4 years and have 9 months more on our current lease.

I’m at a loss of what to do. I don’t want to break the lease and move/ most likely lose being in boundary for our current school, but having five people live in approximately 750 square feet with one bed/bath is getting unmanageable.

I assume we have no recourse here. Yes, we have renters insurance. The landlord is not very open on what their homeowners insurance covers (does it cover us at all?).

Any suggestions on making our current situation manageable or what we should be asking the landlord for?



Are you sure those basement bedrooms are even allowed to be bedrooms, ie two egresses for each room? Windows not too high up, etc?
Anonymous
Post 09/04/2024 21:19     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You do not need to wait for the landlord to let you out of the lease. You should move now and also sue them for personal property damage and being a lying pos

BTW, what do you mean fans are running? Did they remove the damaged drywall and insulation? If not, it’s all a fool’s errand

Get out while you can


This is the very definition of NOT your problem. Please get out

No they can’t remove the drywall bc the ceiling tested positive for asbestos. So they can’t tear anything out until his insurance and the hazmat team talk and formulate a plan. Fans are still running to dry everything out.
Anonymous
Post 09/04/2024 02:20     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You do not need to wait for the landlord to let you out of the lease. You should move now and also sue them for personal property damage and being a lying pos

BTW, what do you mean fans are running? Did they remove the damaged drywall and insulation? If not, it’s all a fool’s errand

Get out while you can


No they can’t remove the drywall bc the ceiling tested positive for asbestos. So they can’t tear anything out until his insurance and the hazmat team talk and formulate a plan. Fans are still running to dry everything out.


That’s a long term and messy repair and a lot of work. You have to decide whether it’s worth it for you to stay and negotiate a reduction in the rent for living in half the house or move. Moving would probably be the best decision in the long term.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2024 15:24     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:You do not need to wait for the landlord to let you out of the lease. You should move now and also sue them for personal property damage and being a lying pos

BTW, what do you mean fans are running? Did they remove the damaged drywall and insulation? If not, it’s all a fool’s errand

Get out while you can


No they can’t remove the drywall bc the ceiling tested positive for asbestos. So they can’t tear anything out until his insurance and the hazmat team talk and formulate a plan. Fans are still running to dry everything out.
Anonymous
Post 09/03/2024 05:39     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
You do not need to wait for the landlord to let you out of the lease. You should move now and also sue them for personal property damage and being a lying pos

BTW, what do you mean fans are running? Did they remove the damaged drywall and insulation? If not, it’s all a fool’s errand

Get out while you can
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2024 13:55     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
This is insane - you don’t let a single worker in or deal with them. That is on the landlord (and I say that as a landlord). You need to also ask for a rent reduction commiserate with what part of the house uou are unable to use.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2024 12:09     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Look at your renters insurance, too - if the burst pipe is a covered peril, you may be eligible for temporary housing until the repairs are done.


This. Call your insurance company.


I would make landlord release them from the lease and they should move. Having rental insurance pay will increase their premiums for years.

Then why have insurance?
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2024 07:33     Subject: Renter in house with burst pipe/ flooding
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Look at your renters insurance, too - if the burst pipe is a covered peril, you may be eligible for temporary housing until the repairs are done.


This. Call your insurance company.


I would make landlord release them from the lease and they should move. Having rental insurance pay will increase their premiums for years.