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Basement Flooded, Basement not finished anymore- still paying same rent

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I am not sure if this is a legal issue or not- we started renting a townhome three years ago, that was advertised to us as "finished basement".
A few months ago the basement flooded, because of a malfunctioning sumpt pump- right before we moved in there was a flood in the basement and we were told it was because of pipe failure- but when this flood happened, our landlord mentioned to us, that he can’t believe it because he had "a guy" work on the sumpt pump after the other flood.
Anyway, because of this faulty sumpt pump the basement flooded, and had to be completely torn up- and the drywall was cut up, insulation replaced, etc.
The landlord replaced the drywall in the "finished part" of the basement, and repainted- but never did anything to replace the carpet, or lay down tile- so it was left as a dusty concrete slab floor.
He has not lowered our rent, and on a side note, even tried to convince us and Serv Pro, to lie about the cause of the flood because his insurance policy didn’t cover sumpt pump failure (I was really feeling pressured into it, but thank goodness the Serv Pro techinicians refused to fudge the report)…
Anyway, I was wondering if there’s any loopholes in the rent agreement side of this- should have requested the rent be lowered due to the fact the useable living space was cut by a third since he decided to leave the basement unfinished? 
If this is a valid request, is it even worth it to request this after-the-fact and demand a refund of monies? 
I’m most upset about all of this because, no that we’re ready to move-on and purchase a home, our landlord is advertising our place as "finished basement", so I assume once we’re out, he’s planning on re-finishing the basement (with the rent money we’ve been paying for an unfinished basement!)… 
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YARPP

Edited on: Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 12:48 pm
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One Response to “Basement Flooded, Basement not finished anymore- still paying same rent”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

joan

January 26th, 2011 7:07 am

I have the same problem with my basement what is the answer I have not been able to use my basement since the flood is there a discount in rent or what is it legal for them to keep charging me full rent for half a house?

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