Security Deposit and damages due to plumbing, fire?

[shadow2k]

My jurisdiction is: Kansas

I just got the "itemized" list of repairs for the rental house I moved out of last month.

I'm being charged a combined $1400 for water dmg caused by a leaking sink in the kitchen. Kitchen floor/subfloor, cabinet under sink, and ceiling/joists beneath the kitchen. The leak could have been there for months, I only noticed it days prior to walkthrough when I was cleaning the place. Was mold growing, so it had been going on for a while I think.

Same landlord, prev property I rented from them. Had a fire back in 2006 in a rental house. We think it was caused by a candle, but not sure. My security and pet deposit were both kept, and I was never given any sort of itemized list or anything, just told that their deductible was more than my deposits. I only know to question this now because of the issue with the current deposit with the same landlord. Was that legal of them to do, and after more than 3.5yrs, do I still have any recourse? I think statute of limitations for written contracts in KS is 5yrs from what I dug up elsewhere.

So can I be held liable for damage caused by plumbing leaks? I didn't do anything to cause the leak, I just didn't notice it and it caused a lot of damage. Was the landlord able to legally keep my security and pet deposits because of a fire in the prev rental, and if not...is this something I can still recover from them after all this time?

I plan to call and talk to my landlord about all of this, but would like some more info about my specific situation before I go talking about stuff I'm not entirely sure about.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Your landlord is likely going to argue that with the extent of the damage from the leak you were aware of this and (even if you did not cause the leak) failed to report it, thus causing greater (and more expensive) damage than if it had been reported earlier.

I recently had a tenant who noticed a leak from the toilet in a middle bathroom, a bathroom that they rarely used as this tub had no shower. Their solution? Close the bathroom door and never told us about it. Much damage to the floor and subfloor which was taken out of their security deposit.

As to the fire damage...your landlord needs to notify you of the status of your security deposit within 30 days of the termination of your lease. Are you saying that you never received this notice or that your landlord did not provide you with an itemized list of these damages?

If you wish to sue him for the previous event, whether you can do this in Kansas depends on whether your contract (i.e., your lease) was written or verbal. The statute of limitation for oral contracts is 2 years, for written contract 5 years.

Keep in mind that if you do sue him for the previous security deposit (and you win) he can still turn around and sue you for the damages from this fire.

Gail