Record rainfall has hit San Diego. It’s the 4th wettest day of the year since record keeping in the 1850s. My rental house is a disaster & tenants, family of 4, stayed in a hotel last night. Called my insurance co. & my policy doesn’t cover floods. I live out of town. Tenant sent pics & it looks like a large portion of their belongings are trashed. Water & mud throughout the house & garage. No carpet on floors tho. Funny thing is that a few days before the storm, I did an inspection with tenant & told him that the canal prevented flooding on that side of the street. Well the weather gods proved me wrong. The canal looks like a forest. The city has neglected to keep it clear.

My insurance agent gave me a contact for a restoration company & I dread the out-of-pocket price tag.

I fear it’s going to take me several months to repair.

So Peeps, what options should I give tenant? Refund deposit & tell them to find another rental? In a bit of irony, I was on the cusp of giving tenants a vacate notice because I intended to move back into the house this summer.

A flood occurs when a water event impacts more than three families/dwellings - so your insurance company isn't giving you a run around.

You are responsible for insuring your property - not your tenant's property. It sounds like the tenant can't live in the place due to an act of God. Now would be a great time to let them know that and let them make some decisions. It seems like the place is no longer rentable at this point, so the lease should be terminated in accordance with what your lease says or sooner if they need it.

Give them back 100% of the deposit - this was out of their control as much as it was out of your control. Sometimes bad things happen to good people - so hopefully you mandated renter's insurance.

Just yesterday I was reading our state statutes ( RSMO 400.2-106 ) and ran across difference between TERMINATION and CANCELATION.

Confusing to me so here they are for you to enlighten me as to meaning.

 (3) "Termination" occurs when either party pursuant to a power created by agreement or law puts an end to the contract otherwise than for its breach. On "termination" all obligations which are still executory on both sides are discharged but any right based on prior breach or performance survives.

 (4) "Cancellation" occurs when either party puts an end to the contract for breach by the other and its effect is the same as that of "termination" except that the cancelling party also retains any remedy for breach of the whole contract or any unperformed balance.

Please give me the laymen’s interpretation.

SO sorry this happened to you!

Good for them, for having rental insurance - at least "they" should be made whole.

My rental agreement includes this clause:

17. UNINHABITABLE. If the premises is made uninhabitable by fire or other casualty, NOT the fault of Tenant, this Agreement shall be voidable by either party, if no reasonable accommodation can be made by mutual agreement. If the premises is made uninhabitable by fire or other casualty, that IS the fault of Tenant or Tenant's guest or invitee, this Agreement shall remain in full effect, and the Tenant will be held responsible for all the associated costs of repair that the Landlord incurs.

Regarding a "Restoration Company": they will charge you an exorbitant amount to do things that you or any handy person can do for much less. And, while you wait to get to the top of their schedule, more damage will be happening - to the house & your wallet.

I recommend (even though you didn't ask : ) that you personally get over there - today! - and document all the damage. Be as detailed as possible.

Hire somebody (as many people as you can) NOW -and I would work with them, to make sure things move along quickly. Cash is king and will help you find workers. But be careful to protect yourself from thieves - they will be around in large numbers.

Get the "wet" cleaned out asap, to minimize water damage, mold, rot. Remove all wet drywall & insulation so everything can dry out. AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE! Just get it out of the house into the yard.

Then you can take a breath & decide how to move forward with restoration.

FWIW: Maybe it will help to keep in mind how nice & new everything will be at the end, and what good rent it will demand then. Try to keep focused on something positive, because this WILL be a very trying / frustrating experience. Focus on the new skills you learn, and the people you meet - who may be good workers on your team down the road. Expect it, and keep pushing forward through it.

A typical renters policy is about $10,000 of housing coverage.

Say your rent out in East county is $2,000 a month. They are forced to live in a motel in El Cajon for eight weeks at $3,000 a month. They will be responsible for the first $2,000 of that amount and insurance will pay for the last $1,000 monthly.

Since your insurance doesn't cover this, your lost rents coverage doesn't kick in. You get NOTHING. You need to get the place cleaned up quickly. The tenants may want to move back in after you clean the place up and dry it out. That will be taking you sometime though. Expect at least two months though.

I did my undergrad internship at the San Diego Apartment Association. My rentals at the time were over in LaMesa/Rancho San Diego/Spring Valley nook. Basically I loved that area at the base of Mt Helix. Couldn't afford to live on the hill, but the rentals near it were awesome.

Called a restoration co. and they can't get anyone out to the property until tomorrow. I was quoted a guesstimate of $2k just for extraction & fans.

@Ray, the rentals are in southeast. I'm fortuante that this rental is paid off and I can afford to float for quite some time without the income less taxes and insurance.

Geo,

Been there. Had 6 homes under water.

Dj offered great advice, esp about thieves (contractors) and looters.

Removing the water/wet is URGENT! Handyman or lower level of work.

Drywall: find the horizontal seam 48" from the floor and just remove the bottom 48". Easy to replace.

As we speak, water is soaking up higher and higher in the gypsum of the drywall.

Fast moving air is your friend to remove moisture.

According to the Red Cross mold/mildew begins in 48 hours. It takes 14 days for a 2x4 to dry before covering.

Katrina Mix: Spic N Span, PineSol, water. Spray it on every wet surface to clean and disinfect.

Once dry we spray painted every exposed surface with Zinsser BIN to seal in any bad stuff before rehanging drywall. Take pictures to show buyers in the future.

Good news: people have short memories. 4 years is the normal limit. Buyers might have heard about the flood but they no longer care.

Deposit: slow down Bucko! THEY are responsible to remove THEIR personal property. Ever tried to move a wet mattress?? They do it or you deduct it from their deposit. Give the proper written accounting required by your state of the how the depsoit was used.

I hope you bought nice Christmas presents for your contractors because everybody and their brother have already called them.

Lease: Not responsible for residents' personal property.

Resident must carry Renters Insurance. (this will pay you a few bucks for the cleanout and give them a few thousand for new clothes, furniture...)

Management does not provide alternate housing such as hotel rooms. (they are already full anyway)

Good luck!

BRAD

@gkarl, Yes, this is a set back for me, but for others on the block it may be a real disaster. Its a low-income neighborhood & my guess is that there may be for-sale signs coming soon.

We've had a flood before (I think it was Hurricane Irene) and Brad is dead on about getting the bottom part of the DRYWALL out of there PRONTO. Everything else is pretty easy if that is done.

@Gkarl, yes, I was thinking about opportunities also. The entire neighborhood turned into a river.

@wmh, Governor has declared an emergency, so hopefully FEMA money is coming.

@Vee, re-wired, re-piped & upgraded electrical about 10 years ago when I renovated. I was planning to build an ADU & had just made an appointment with with the planning department to get the requirements. Now I will have to re-renovate. Spoke to my handyman & he can start on Monday. I haven’t gotten any call backs from the big restoration companies, but I’m on their triage lists. :(

Look at the bright side, you will have all nice new fixtures when you move back in.

Hey Geo,

I just read this thread,wow!

Do you have any update on your situation?

I was read that the Governor is trying to get SD County declared a disaster area.

That might help you.