What steps can we take to get tenants to repair damage they caused? North Carolina
Hi! My husband and I own a home in Wake County, North Carolina. We live in New York. We have been renting our home to a family since June of 2007. We have a management company who oversees the property, collects the rent, etc.
We were told in June that we had to pay $80.00 for a plumbing repair and when we asked what it was for, it turned out that the tenants were negligent and we didn't have to pay anything. Apparently, the mother let her kids play in the upstairs master bathroom and they plugged up the tub with some kind of rubber duck thing and it overflowed. They paid the plumbing bill and admitted their negligence.
I have emails back and forth to the management company with me asking them to make sure there wasn't any real damage, that everything was fixed, tell us exactly what was involved and as soon as I heard water, I immediately thought mold in the ceiling. :eek: This was done in the dining area which is directly under the bathroom.
I was told by the management company that there was just a tiny little hole, it was "no big deal" and everything was essentially great, no worries, all fixed. They are supposed to go there every few months to change the air filters for us and do a general inspection, make sure the tenants aren't destroying the house. When we ask about the house, we get these short, non-committal answers.
So, last month we see another deduction from the rent for another plumbing repair and when we ask what this one is for we are told it's for the same master bathroom but this time the shower just had to be recalked. The management company has their own repair team.
I just had this terrible sinking feeling that something was wrong and I'm usually on the money. I bothered my hubby to no end for us to go there this weekend just to check things out. We gave them ample notice and they were not home when we got there.
We were shocked when we walked into the dining room and saw a tremendous gaping hole in the ceiling with the pipes exposed, the ceiling buckling, water damage (the brown lines) and obvious attempts at spackling and respackling. There was also damage to the adjacent kitchen ceiling with peeling paint on the ceiling, buckling and bubbling. There is greenish-black stuff all over the place (has to be mold!! ) and we were just so upset, in awe, angry and not sure what the heck to do.
We went and got a camera and took several pictures of everything. We only had a day and half there and had to get home last night. The management company is closed on the weekends and we don't have the contact info for the tenants.
Today we are so upset :mad: and not sure what to do first. How do people first of all live this way?! Second of all, who is lying about the damage, the tenants or the management company? What do we do? Where do we begin? We can't go back any time soon, our finances are very tight right now. We want them to get a mold inspection and fix all of the damage and get it done NOW!! We cannot afford to pay for any repairs for damage, especially ones we did not cause.
We trusted these people at the management company. I try to keep up to date with them every month to see how thing are going. You can see no-one has been there in ages. The ceilings were filthy from where all of the air vents are and there is so much dirt and dust and who knows what else caked up in there so they couldn't have gone there in months, if at all.
Legally, what can we do, what can we ask for and how do we get this rolling today? I want to send a letter to them by email and certified mail with the pictures we took and I just need to know how to word this and get it done now. I'm upset so I know I have to choose my words carefully but this has to be taken care of immediately. We are not experts but know there is something growing in that ceiling and need it out now! I'm trying to do online research but I really feel sick from this and just cannot concentrate. Can someone please help! Thank you so much!
Very Worried :(