Tenant liability - mold from water damage : ezLandlordForms

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Tenant liability - mold from water damage

Alea G

started a topic 7 months ago

Hi there. I have a long term tenant (3 years) who recently informed me of a water leak under the kitchen sink, which appears to have gone on long enough to cause significant water damage and mold growth. We are in a dry part of Texas, so unsure how long the leak had to exist for mold to start growing. The tenant told me as soon as they noticed the damage, but my question is about their liability. Is there any reasonable expectation that they should have noticed the leak before the mold took hold? It was a significant repair cost to remediate and completely tear out the water damaged sections of cabinet, let alone the rebuild costs. Unsure if I am within my landlord rights to keep any or all of their security deposit for this damage. Does not catching the leak before mold grew indicate negligence?

1 Comment

Peggy H

said 4 months ago

My tenant had a shed structure close to the house; which may have built up moisture and caused mold on the inside wall to the room sharing the same wall. The family has done some nice work to a fence .The family wants the deposit back I would like to give it to them but I think the cost to resolve the issue will be more then the 600 deposit. They did have permission to have the shed but I suppose neither of us thought of potential mold, should they get the deposit back? and use this as a lesson learned.