Who pays for water damage after landlord lies about history of water/flooding in basement? A week of living in a new rental home it rained and water began seeping from baseboards and flooding two sides of the basement. Unpacked boxes and furniture was soaked. This is after my real estate agent and I were reassured by the owner/landlord there was no history of flooding or water problems. But, I know things happened and figured this was an unexpected event. However, when the landlord sent over his handy-man (my new neighbor), he knocked down the drywall to expose cracks in the foundation where the water is seeping in from. I asked if there was problems with flooding in the past and the handy-man said, "yes, all of the time" and that he'd advised the landlord to fix the cracks before putting up the new drywall, which he did not. So, clearly the owner lied to me. The handy-man said he can fix the problem, but has to wait until the moisture in the wall dries. That was 3 weeks ago. We did have a few dry days, but when the handy-man was ready to work, the landlord could not be reached to authorize purchase of the materials. Since then we've had sporadic rain and I've been stuck with flooding nearly every day. In the meantime, I still have stuff down there. I have moved what I can to an area that hasn't gotten water, but each rain the water flow is more and moves further to the other side of the basement. I'm running out of space. Short of renting a storage unit and hiring someone to move everything out, I don't know what else to do. I have asked if there is anything that can be done temporarily to to minimize some of the flooding and the landlord gives me attitude as if I'm asking too much. We are expecting another bad storm this weekend and I am concerned about further damage. If so, would the landlord be responsible? I have renters insurance with covers flooding, but it clearly states that it does not cover damage caused by gradual seepage of water through building or basement walls, roofs, windows, doors, foundations, or floor. Should my landlord be responsible for the water damage to my things?

I would plan to simply give notice and cancel the lease, then move out.

It sounds like this particular LL is not one of "US' the people on this board who work hard to provide a quality product to tenants such as yourself. Your LL sounds like a slum lord who is only interested in renting the place.

Since you already spoke to the handy man, who said it does this all the time, and now the LL refuses the authorize the repair, you need to get yourself out.

whats your landlord tenant laws say?

Here in GA if a home has flooded 3 times in a 5 year period the tenant must be forwarded. If your purchasing there should be "disclosure law".

I don't know about IL tenant law, so probably your best bet would be to consult with an attorney who specializes in this area.

I disagree with Barb. As a fellow Missouri land lord, I know there are certain legal procedures that must be followed before a tenant takes unilateral action to withhold any rent and/or terminate a lease without the land lord's consent. I have been in court and seen the result of these "self done" lease terminations: the tenant ALWAYS loses. Even when the land lord has clearly not lived up to the full expectations on the lease, the tenant ended up losing. It may be different in your state and county, but that's how it works here.

It's the same for land lords. I cannot just lock a tenant out if they refuse to pay rent. I must go thru the legal process and I risk severe penalties if I try to take a short-cut that my clueless relatives/buddies say I should take. "Self help evictions" are illegal in Missouri.

So...all this to say the pendulum swings both ways. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Send your land lord formal, written notice via first class and also certified mail that he needs to repair the damages pronto or you will be contacting the local municipal code inspector. Make sure you ask your attorney if there is anything else you need to do.

Good luck. Sorry to hear you found a bad one. It happens to us on the other side too.

I would do what the others say and get two by fours and get the handyman to put all your stuff up on them. This is an unusually rainy year everywhere but it does sound like the landlord knew and lied to you.

Sid's advice sounds best to me. You have to be knowledgeable of your state's laws. Sorry to hear this happened to you.

Rather than put things up on wood, buy some plastic shelving. It won't wick up the moisture like wood will. The plastics bins, as suggested by StillLearning are a good idea. The shelving and bins will move with you in the event you move. A dehumidifier should be used in any basement in the humid Midwest, in my opinion.

First thing is to get your stuff out of the flooding. Now that you know about the flooding, you are responsible to prevent further damage to your things.

Next, submit a repair request to your landlord however your lease says to do that. Check your state laws to see if there is a timeframe for repairs to be made. In IN it is a "reasonable" time, which may be longer because as the handyman said, it needs to dry out, but it keeps raining.

Your final problem is the lie about the previous flooding. You may want to get some documentation from the handyman and your agent about the landlord's statements and the flooding history. Contact your landlord to see if you both can come to an agreement.

This is why I would never rent a basement to live in or rent it out to anyone. Basements leak.

I have a friend with a nice home with full size basement, two bedrooms downstairs. It has seepage and slight moldy smell all the time. Her parent in-laws used to live down there.

JR [ME] said what I was thinking ... I'm not understanding why ANYONE would actually replace/put up sheetrock KNOWING that it will get damaged with "very little" rain and not spend money into FIXING the problem instead. That is just throwing money away.

If anything, I would think they would just tear out the walls and leave it there.

In my leases for buildings that a tenant has access to a basement, attic, garage, etc they indicate that those area(s) are NOT to be used as storage and if the tenant does, we are not liable for any damage for ANY reason.

It has nothing to do with the fact that the basement or whatever leaks - it is because it COULD leak OR a sewer back-up, busted pipe, hot water tank, etc could occur. Yes, if the basement is a bit wet or COULD flood, sure - but again - we are very clear that you are NOT allowed to store items there. So if you do - not my problem for any damage caused due to you not following our rules.