If the leak came from a co-op pipe, then the co-op is responsible for the damages. (If you want to double-check, look at your by-laws or proprietary lease.) The property manager must notify your insurance carrier immediately of the leak and say that the co-op may file a claim to cover damages. Then the co-op should move as swiftly as possible to clean the apartment.

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Notify your own insurance carrier.

Yes, the co-op is required to clean and then repair any damage.

But one’s lease may stipulate that the co-op need only repair the floor, but that any improvements, such as carpeting is the onus of the resident and thus the resident’s insurance carrier.

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Most likely the problem took place on the 1st floor. This may be a warning (depending on the age of the building and other problems in apartments below) that the main lines should be cleaned on a periodic basis to prevent similar problems in the future.

Harvey and other respondents are right!

AdC

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ADC.just curious as to why you think the problem comes from the first floor? The unit where the water came up through his sink in 2. Beneath him is a duplex on first floor and basement, and that unit is the only one that has a bathroom on this line--two in fact, basement and first floor. The reason I'm interested in your reference to the first floor, and it may have no bearing on the flood issue, but that first floor unit has a very problematic shareholder with lots of OC, arrears, etc. We are taking very serious steps with her, and wonder if there is some "housekeeping" issue down there that could have caused this line to back up. There are many cats and dogs being harbored there. Any thoughts?

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There a few reasons for a backup that causes water to flow back into a toilet or sink.

Typically the water needs to be from somewhere, usually above the sink that experiences the flood. But, except for opening a faucet the apartments above are not the cause of the blockage.

So the blockage is either below the sink that experiences the backflow or adjacent. In our building, the kitchens are back-to-back and so the adjacent apartment can be the cause of the blockage and outflow as has occurred when some folks operated their sink disposal units and did not use a sufficient supply to water to flush the materials onto the waste line. This caused an impairment to the flow and caused water to backflow into the adjacent kitchen sink.

In the case of other buildings, with a single sink per floor emptying into a waste stack, the impairment needs to be below the sink that experiences the backflow. This is probably the case in your building.

Impairments could be anything, e.g.: accumulation of waste (a waste dam), pipe collapse downstream, insufficient waste flow, e.g.: undersized waste pipe (if folks illegally attach washing machines)

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You'll need to check your Proprietary Lease, but most leases explicitly state that the coop is *not* required to repair or replace any damaged furnishings, rugs, wallpaper, or the like. That's covered by the shareholder's own insurance. The coop only needs to repair floors and to repair and replaster walls and ceilings.

An excerpt from our own lease's Paragraph 4(a), "Damage to Apartment or Building":

"Lessor [the coop corporation] shall not be required to repair or replace, or cause to be repaired or replaced, equipment, fixtures, furniture, furnishings or decorations installed by the Lessee [shareholder] ... nor shall the Lessor be obligated to repaint or replace wallpaper or other decorations ...."

This sounds harsh, but actually makes sense. Why should the entire coop corporation be on the hook for massive damages if a shareholder decides to paper the walls with priceless medieval tapestries, and they are destroyed in a flood? The coop is obligated to restore the structural integrity of the apartment; the shareholder's insurance policy takes care of the rest.

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