Reasonable Promptness

[AlannaH]

My husband and I relocated to Nashville TN 3 1/2 months ago and rented an apartment nearby. We have had many, many problems since the beginning but recently had out biggest yet. We woke up early in the morning to water pouring through our ceiling in our bathroom, kitchen, laundry closet and bedroom. The maintenance man was on site within 30 minutes and within 2 hours they had set up three large fans, on pointed under the soggy carpet in the hall, one pointed at the bathroom ceiling and one pointed at the kitchen ceiling. Everything I have seen and read about proper handling of water leaks say that repairs should be made immediately and that all wet areas should be *completely* dry within 1 to 2 days. My question is this. The carpet was dry in that time frame, but the ceiling and the baseboards for sure (and who knows about inside the walls, where I heard water dripping) were/are still wet at least 5 days after the fact. Our landlord says if there was mold we would see it so it's not a problem, but I know that there can be mold that is not visible. They are not planning on doing any further maintenance until at least 7 days after the event.

__________________________________________________ ______
Here is the clause in my lease about damage by water:

Resident shall notify Lessor immediately of malfunction of equipment, damage by fire, water or act of God and Lessor shall repair the damage with reasonable promptness, or if the premises are deemed by the Lessor to be damaged so much as to be unfit for occupancy, or if the Lessor decides not to repair or restore the building the lease shall terminate.
__________________________________________________ ______

So, my question is, is that reasonable promptness, to leave it wet for at least 5 days? They have no plans to call a mold expert, tear out the ceiling or anything. They said for cosmetic reasons they are willing to replace the baseboards, but I don't care about cosmetic reasons. I'm more concerned with the fact that they waited so long to make sure everything is try and are now refusing to do anything else about possible mold issues. Is there anything I can do?

[OHlandlord]

While they should be dry in only 2 days in *ideal* conditions (fully open and exposed), none of us live in ideal conditions. If the wall/ceiling is still closed up, it may take much longer for them to dry. The reason is that it is much more difficult for the water to get out. If the area was open, it could dry much quicker. With ceiling drywall or tiles still in place, it will take time to dry. Additionally, if there is insulation in there, that will slow drying time. Continue to run the fans on it 24/7 and run your A/C as much as you can (it acts as a dehumidifier). In the bath & kitchen, you can also run your vent fans to draw air out. If they don't dry out within another 2-3 days (if the weather stays dry in your area - rain increases the humidity and slows drying), there could still be a small leak in there. Have the maintenance guy come back and look for another small leak.

The wall can be repaired within a couple weeks without a problem. If the wall/ceiling remains wet after a few more days, then start to worry about another leak and a possibility of mold.

[AlannaH]

Let me elaborate a bit, I think I didn't communicate terribly well. They had the fans set up for two days, and then tested with some little pronged instrument for moisture, said there wasn't any and took the fans away (I don't have any fans myself). But when I touched the ceiling and pressed on the baseboards I could feel the moisture with my hands. So, at this point it's already been 5 days, and because of Labor day my landlord said not to expect anything else to be done until Tuesday at which point it will have been a bit over a week. The source of the water was the toilet pipe from the tenant above us who slipped and fell in his shower and busted the pipe, so I'm not too worried about the leak continuing to be a problem, just the moisture from the first time. From everything I've read, the length of time it's been wet already is enough for mold to get going. Should I just forget it or try hard to get them to check more carefully for mold? Do I have any power here or do I just have to go with whatever they eventually do?

Also, when our bathroom flooded we had some property damage. Not enough to file on our renters insurance, it's too little to meet the deductible. The guy above us that caused the leak didn't have renters insurance and our manager won't reimburse us. Should the guy above us be responsible, or are we just out of luck?

[OHlandlord]

You could always sue the guy upstairs if you want reimbursed for your loses. The LL is not responsible for this so he shouldn't reimburse you. The LL would only be responsible if he knew about the problem and failed or neglected to fix it. Since your maintenance man was there in 30 minutes, the LL handled this quickly.

Mold will grow where there is a *continuing* problem with dampness. If the wall has dried out or is drying out, mold will not have the moisture necessary to sustain it. If it has started to grow, without the continuing moisture it will die. On Tuesday, ask them to come and check the wall again if it still feels damp. The probe instrument is a humidity meter which measures the amount of moisture within a surface. If it is damp, they may not have fixed every leak. (He could have cracked the pipe in another place they didn't see inside the wall.) If the wall/ceiling tiles have been very wet, they will probably have to remove that section of drywall anyways to make repairs, thereby removing any drywall that would have any possible mold on it. In the meantime, continue to run your A/C since that acts as a dehumidifier. Then see what repairs they have scheduled for you this week.