Paying for a burnt hood after vacating

[ywarke]

Hello,

I have a question related to charges that my rental apartment complex is slapping on to me. Here are the details:

My family was in this apartment for a year, and in that period, we had a small kitchen fire that resulted because of overheating of oil while cooking. That fire probably damaged some or all of the vent hood above, because of which it (and the adjacent walls) turned black with soot. Now, the apartment complex folks leart of the incident and the manager and the tecnnicians rushed to the apartment. Luckily no one was hurt, but we told them what happened. They told us that they will replace the vent hood ASAP. They never did. We did remind them a few times shortly thereafter about replacing, and we were told that they will show up with a replacement, but they never did. Now after we have vacated, they are telling me that they will send me an invoice for the cost of replacing the vent hood.

I argued with them that while I don't have a problem paying (as it was our fault), I should not be charged the full amount of a new vent hood, because they never replaced it in time. I had to live with the burnt hood all these days. Had they replaced it right after the incident, we could at least have used the new vent hood. Charging us full price for this at this stage doesn't seem fair. What are my options here? The fact that we had to live in a soot-filled environment for so long also brings a health risk into picture. Can we use that in any way to fight these charges? If so, how?

Thanks!

 

[army judge]

You were the proximate cause of the fire.

The fire didn't erupt spontaneously.

Therefore, you are responsible for paying for the new hood.

Yes, they might have done it sooner.

But, as you said, after they delayed, you gave up.

Either way, replacing the hood is your responsibility.

You can fight them, but they'll prevail.

 

[ywarke]

Thanks. Two follow-up questions:
1) If they delayed and we gave up, who is responsible for the lapse of not getting it replaced? Do we or do they bear the responsibility of making that happen?
2) Wouldnt it be more fair for me to pay not for the price of a brand new hood (because the hood that got damaged wasn't brand new), but a hood that is actually the value of the damaged hood?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

1. A moot point since you've vacated the rental unit.

2. That might be the case with something that "wears out" over time (for example, a carpet, a refrigerator, or a washer or dryer that will, eventually, wear out as the years go on). But a vent hood (which may get dirty with grease) really rarely "wears out"; if the light bulb in it burns out, you simply replace it and it continues to work fine.

Besides, how are you going to find the preburned value of the original hood based on its age?

Gail

 

[mightymoose]

Your only way to avoid this is if they failed to provide you with the invoice for the hood within the required time after you moved out. If they miss that deadline all bets are off and they have to give you your money back.... though they can still try to sue you for the damage.