Storm damage in a rental apartment: who pays and what to do
Storm damage in a rental apartment, meaning damage to the building and to the unit itself, is as a rule repaired by the owner or the homeowners’ association. The tenant has to report the event without delay and limit its effects. And the tenant’s own belongings? Those are protected only by a policy the tenant bought themselves. It is July 2026, after a violent night storm your tenant sends photos of a wet ceiling and a flooded floor, and you have to decide quickly what comes next. Below you will find a plan for the first 24 hours, the split of costs and the rules for settling rent during the repairs.
Who pays for storm damage in a rental apartment?
In short: repairs to the building and the unit fall on the landlord, defects in the common parts are fixed by the homeowners’ association, and the tenant’s belongings are the tenant’s risk. How do we know? From Art. 662 § 1, set out in the consolidated text of the Civil Code: the owner keeps the unit in a condition fit for the agreed use for the entire duration of the lease. A storm changes nothing here. Because this duty does not depend on who was at fault.
The second provision says much the same. Under Art. 6a sec. 3 point 2, found in the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights, the landlord is responsible for repairs to the building and for restoring a damaged building to its previous condition, regardless of the cause. But there is a catch: the same point states that losses caused through the tenant’s fault are charged to the tenant. The tenant left a window open during a downpour and water ruined the floor? That part of the cost is theirs.
The first 24 hours after a storm: what the tenant does and what the owner does
The first day is not the time for renovation. First come securing the unit, documentation and reports, the actual repairs follow later. And the order matters here, because every hour of standing water makes the losses bigger.
- Cutting off the power in the flooded part of the apartment before anyone starts cleaning up.
- Collecting the water and moving furniture away from wet walls.
- Temporarily securing a broken window pane with plastic sheeting or a board.
- Photos and a short description of the damage with the date and time.
- Notifying the owner, done by the tenant.
- A report to the building manager, filed by the landlord.
- Notifying the insurer, each party under their own policy.
A tenant reporting damage is not doing you a favour. It is a duty: Art. 666 § 2 of the Civil Code requires the tenant to notify the landlord without delay when repairs that fall on the landlord become necessary. On top of that, Art. 10 sec. 1 of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights requires the tenant to give access to the unit without delay in the event of a failure, so that it can be fixed. In Tenanto, a defect report in the tenant panel lands on the repairs board with a photo and stays in the history, so later it is easy to reconstruct what happened and when.
Roof, windows, furnishings, tenant’s belongings: who is responsible for what
Who does the repair? Whoever owns the damaged part. Not whoever noticed the problem first. The most common cases gathered in one place:
| Item | Who repairs the damage | Who to report it to |
|---|---|---|
| Roof and facade | Homeowners’ association | The owner reports to the building manager |
| Windows | Landlord | The tenant reports to the owner |
| Owner’s furnishings | Landlord | The owner and their insurer |
| Tenant’s belongings | Tenant | The tenant’s insurer |
A roof leak and the tenant - this one is simple. The roof and facade usually belong to the common property, so the owner passes the matter on to the building manager and the tenant does not pay for the repair. And the classic “window broken by a gale, who pays”? The landlord, unless the occupant’s negligence contributed to the damage. The same goes for who repairs the roof of a rental unit located in a single-family house (there is no homeowners’ association there, so everything falls on the owner). And then insurance: the landlord’s policy protects the walls and their furnishings, while the tenant’s insurance covers the tenant’s movable property.
What if the repair drags on or the unit is seriously damaged?
The owner is stalling? The tenant can set them a deadline and, once it passes, carry out the necessary repairs at the landlord’s expense. Art. 663 of the Civil Code speaks of an appropriate deadline, meaning one that is realistic for the scope of work involved. And only when it passes without result does this route open up for the tenant. In my view the most sensible approach is to answer such requests in writing and state what stage the matter has reached with the building manager.
A separate rule sits in Art. 662 § 3 of the Civil Code: if the property has been destroyed for reasons the landlord is not responsible for, the landlord has no duty to restore its previous condition. But note - this is about destruction, not ordinary damage such as a flooded ceiling. A dispute over whether the unit is still fit to live in is worth discussing with a lawyer. And wet walls and ceilings have to be dried regardless of the scale of the damage, before mould on damp walls develops.
Does the tenant pay full rent while the damage is being repaired?
Not necessarily. For the time during which a defect limits the use of the unit, the tenant can demand an appropriate rent reduction. Under Art. 664 § 1 of the Civil Code the reduction covers the period in which the defects last and should match the scale of the limitation. One unusable room is something different from an apartment without electricity. And one more thing: a rent reduction after an apartment is flooded does not require any fault on the owner’s part. The mere fact that the unit is less usable is enough.
What does this mean for the landlord in practice? A few simple steps:
- agree the scope and period of the reduction with the tenant in writing,
- keep photos from before the repairs and after they are finished,
- save your correspondence with the building manager and the insurer.
When a tenant submits a rent reduction request, this kind of documentation lets you reach an agreement quickly. Overall, storm damage in a rental apartment is settled smoothly when the report, the evidence and the split of responsibility are clear from day one.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Art. 10 sec. 1 of the Act on the Protection of Tenants’ Rights obliges the tenant to give access to the unit without delay when a failure causes damage or directly threatens to cause it. It is best to agree the time of entry right away when the damage is reported. Why should the repair crew wait at the door?
As a rule the tenant’s own policy, provided they bought one. The owner is liable for these losses only when their own negligence led to them, for example a leak report that was ignored earlier. That is why I recommend suggesting contents insurance to the tenant already when the lease is signed.
They can. But only after setting the landlord an appropriate deadline and after it passes without result. This right covers only necessary repairs, without which the unit is not fit for the agreed use. Work that goes beyond this scope requires the owner’s consent.
