On March 13th my ground floor apartment was flooded in its entirety. Maybe 2 inches of standing, frigid water. Not as bad as many people, but I still had to evacuate the apartment with my two cats. The temperature increased dramatically over the next few days, causing quite a smell. The water sat in the apartment until March 17th, when they ripped out the carpets and installed some fans.
I had a free consultation with a lawyer, who initially suggested there was nothing I could do except file what he called a 14/30. The Landlord would have 14 days to fix the flooding issues or I'd have put in my 30 days notice. A friend of mine had looked at the Nebraska Tenants Rights Handbook and saw something about flooding: Leave the apartment and give your Landlord a 14 day notice that you have vacated and intend to end your lease. Some googling told me it was Nebraska Landlord Tenant Act Revised Statute 76-1429. I showed this to the lawyer and asked if this would apply to me due to the casualty damage from the rain and melting snow. The Lawyer (after apologizing for forgetting this law) said it would, and that I would be owed prepaid March rent from after the day I vacated and my security deposit. He advised me to write up a letter using similar terminology to the law and hand it into my Landlord. He was very sure this was a non-issue, that it was to the Landlord's advantage to be accommodating and pro-rate my rent, and we likely wouldn't end up in court. The lawyer told me not to pay rent for April. "The worst case you're evicted, and you don't even live there. If things end up in court, you call me again."
My Landlord did not appreciate that letter. She told me her lawyers said they were "immune to these laws because we're working to fix the problem." She said she would take it as my 30 day notice and nothing more. I tried to offer her my apartment keys, but she refused. "As far as I'm concerned, you're obligated to be in that apartment until the end of April." She also said she was forwarding my letter on to her legal team, who would be reaching out to me. They never did.
It's now been over 30 days since the March floods and I still have no livable apartment. There is no estimated time for the repairs to be finished. When they ripped out the carpets, they left glue, nails, and pieces of wood all over the bare sticky floors. They have done considerable drywall work, enough that for a week there was a hole big enough for someone to crawl into the my apartment from the hallway, but they are still not finished. I have not been able to live in this apartment since March 13th. This last Friday I got a call from the Landlord that I must pay $1050 in rent for the month of April by Monday or she will begin the eviction process - the thing my Lawyer said was so unlikely.
I've been effectively homeless for a month now, relying on the kindness of friends and family for a place to stay. I lost most of my belongings. I had made plans to buy a house, but now the threat of eviction on my credit has me scared. My lawyer is out of his office until Monday, the day my Landlord will start the eviction process. Friends and family tell me to alert the news and make a fuss, but am I in the right? My Landlord is so confident! I don't want to pay such a such a steep fee for an uninhabitable space. Any help you can offer, Reddit, would be well appreciated.
Written By: toxoplasmic_tiamat
Source: http://bit.ly/2GgksHU
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