Thank you realty company for ruining everything I had in the cellar. UPDATE

[MrMatt]

So, who owns the whole building? Is it a house converted condo? If so, is there some HOA. If this is the case, then they are not responsible.

he owns the whole house. It's just a 2 floor house, we rent the first floor, neighbors rent the upstairs.

 

[Gibson486]

Does the lease mention anything about storage?

 

[Anubis]

you prob need to talk to a lawyer

 

[sourceninja]

I'd go the insurance route personally.

 

[zebano]

Ouch dude, if you have renters insurance talk to them and be sure to take a copy of your lease & pics to a lawyer for an informed opinion. That's some seriously unprofessional work and the workers/their company should be liable IMO.

 

[Gibson486]

How many years have you been practicing law?

How many years have you? I have been in these situations before...in guess what...the same state he lives in. In fact, I probably only live 5 miles from the OP. While MA is very geared toward protecting tenants, they do not make pursuing claims against landlords a walk in the park. This is not a simple case of "oh, I got my deposit in 31 days instead of 30, I am entitled to triple damages". This case is dependent on what is on his lease. If his lease says nothing about storage, then he will most likely need a lawyer to do something. At this point, hiring a lawyer would most likely be more costly than eating the damages.

 

[thepd7]

Your rant has lots of swearing and not much else.
5/10

Please see The Pig for tips on better ranting.

this

 

[OutHouse]

whats the monetary value of the stuff that is ruined?

 

[MrMatt]

whats the monetary value of the stuff that is ruined?

Still assessing. I don't want to take a day off from work to sift through it. I got the damaged stuff out of the water and on to a skid so that it wasn't damaged further; I'm going to prolly tally it this weekend. The monetary value is probably around 600-800 bucks, but a TON of it was sentimental stuff; old letters, awards, yearbooks.

How many years have you? I have been in these situations before...in guess what...the same state he lives in. In fact, I probably only live 5 miles from the OP. While MA is very geared toward protecting tenants, they do not make pursuing claims against landlords a walk in the park. This is not a simple case of "oh, I got my deposit in 31 days instead of 30, I am entitled to triple damages". This case is dependent on what is on his lease. If his lease says nothing about storage, then he will most likely need a lawyer to do something. At this point, hiring a lawyer would most likely be more costly than eating the damages.

I'm going to read over it tonight and see what it says

 

[Juddog]

Hopefully you have renter's insurance?

 

[DrPizza]

Hopefully you have renter's insurance?

This, and/or this:

Him: yeah, I'm not responsible for anything that happens in the cellars of any place I rent out.

"Well, we'll let the judge in small claims court make the decision of who is responsible for what happened in the cellar."

 

[Dirigible]

How many years have you? I have been in these situations before...in guess what...the same state he lives in. In fact, I probably only live 5 miles from the OP. While MA is very geared toward protecting tenants, they do not make pursuing claims against landlords a walk in the park. This is not a simple case of "oh, I got my deposit in 31 days instead of 30, I am entitled to triple damages". This case is dependent on what is on his lease. If his lease says nothing about storage, then he will most likely need a lawyer to do something. At this point, hiring a lawyer would most likely be more costly than eating the damages.

Small claims, bubba. No lawyer.

Hey, maybe MA law says that OP is SOL. I dunno. Haven't seen anything from you that would make me think that. If I were OP and mad enough I'd sue in small claims and say landlord's actions resulted in destruction of my property. If the landlord tried to argue that OP was trespassing I'd say the tenants all used the basement for storage, the landlord knew, and he should have said something earlier instead of making it appear as if that was a benefit of renting. Would that win? I dunno, but you don't either.

 

[Gibson486]

Small claims, bubba. No lawyer.

Hey, maybe MA law says that OP is SOL. I dunno. Haven't seen anything from you that would make me think that. If I were OP and mad enough I'd sue in small claims and say landlord's actions resulted in destruction of my property. If the landlord tried to argue that OP was trespassing I'd say the tenants all used the basement for storage, the landlord knew, and he should have said something earlier instead of making it appear as if that was a benefit of renting. Would that win? I dunno, but you don't either.

What is he gonna take him to small claims court for? The guy already offered to pay for his stuff like clothes and boxes.

 

[ultimatebob]

Hopefully you have renter's insurance?

Heh... If he did, he wouldn't be ranting here!

Hell... I might even post a "Dumbass landlord trashed some old crap of mine by flooding it, and I got a $1,000 claim check for it!" brag thread about it if I was in his shoes.

 

[Dirigible]

What is he gonna take him to small claims court for? The guy already offered to pay for his stuff like clothes and boxes.

Psshh! You expect me to read things before arguing with people now? What's the Internet come to?

And if OP is being reimbursed, what else does he want?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Landlord is correct and was not responsible for basement.

OP is not going to get help in repacking - but he is getting his dirty laundry cleaned and new boxes to store them in.

 

[apac]

How much monetary compensation would renters insurance award him for sentimental items? I wouldn't think much - most policies cover the material value. I think a lawsuit is the only option here.

 

[Magusigne]

Personally,

Here is my two-cents.

Threaten the Bejesus out of him with Lawsuit. Get a cheapo lawyer to write you up a nice threatening letter with some of your lease items spelled out in there. Take the guy aside and see if you can "Settle it out of Court".

Court might award you what..3-5k in dmgs.

I'd say just get 6 months of rent free living out of it.