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I have a mortgage on my primary residence which is a 2nd floor condo in NJ. My neighbor below informed me recently he has a small (1 1/2 inch diameter leak stain) in the ceiling of his bedroom bathroom which lines up directly with my bedroom bathroom's toilet right above. He also owns his condo unit, I have condo insurance, he has no insurance. I think this is just a bad seal in my toilet..(I have no leak and my bathroom floor is bone dry)...but am I automatically responsible if this turns out to be damage to the actual pipes below my floor/above his ceiling?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: New Jersey Already Tried: Took pictures of the leak. My brother who is a plumber is coming over this week to check it out. My neighbor is fine with this in fact my neighbor stated to only come over on Tues or Wed (its Sunday as I write this)
Thanks for your question and good afternoon.
Hello
If your plumbing caused the damages here you likely are held liable to repair the other tenant's property.It would come down to what you find out as far as the cause of the leak.You may want to go on and report this to your condo insurance and let them deal with any claim and costs to repair.You will likely have to pay the deductible but at least the bulk of the costs to repair would be covered.
If your leak caused the damages then likely your condo policy would take responsibility and pay the claim.
See what brother finds and then if it was your leak then you should contact your insurer and let them resolve it.
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thanks for the input
Experience: Texas Attorney for 29 years dealing in real estate