Question about property damage; who is liable? TLDR at bottom
Bare with me, long post to have the most detail in it.
Hi all. So i found this subreddit and wanted to post about my current situation to hear what im supposed to do as I want to be sure i am handling it accordingly.
August 1st, my 13 year old son clogged the toilet using too much toilet paper. He decided to try and fix the issue himself rather than tell anyone, and because of that whatever he tried to do actually made it worse. The toilet ended up filling and overflowing, and the water wouldnt stop before he decided to come tell us in a panic. My husbands parents were here visiting at the time, so they seen and helped with everything.
Our first thought and focus was obviously to stop the water from overflowing and clean it off the floor before damage occurred (we live in a triplex. We have the main floor, our friends live below us and an older man is above). As soon as we were able to stop the water and clean it up, we informed our landlords of this (noting at the time the valve for the toilet was seized and the pump un the tank was failing, it kept trying to fill the tank as it was nearly empty). However, before we had the chance to, our friends downstairs had called them telling them water was leaking in their bathroom, and the ceiling paint was peeling off. - to note, they have been battling an ongoing mold issue landlords have not properly dealt with.
When we spoke to landlords that day, they asked us to help our friends if we could and they'd come on Tuesday, August 4th. August 4th he came and checked my bathroom, said the pump and valve was fine so he didnt fix anything. But it for certain was seized and pump not working that day, and there is 4 people who can confirm that. Anyway, they never went downstairs that day to assess the basement still. He said he tried but the baby was asleep (they informed me they never spoke to him, so they dont know where he got thay from), so he said see if you can go down and assess it, see what you can do to help.. and he left.
Yesterday our friends called after waiting 24hrs for a response asking why they didnt go look in their bathroom, and they said they told me it is my job to fix as I caused the damage. Which first of all, was never said to me so I was unaware? And secondly, im not contractor.. how am I supposed to fix it..
I have tried researching this and reading different things so, i came here in hopes to get the most accurate advice.
I read something about 24hrs for a category 3 leak causing damage aka toilet water. That they had to come assess or have a professional do ao in 24hrs then give me the bill, as it essentially was negligence due to son clogging toilet. But its been 7 days since it happened and they havent looked at it themselves, nor sent anyone. And there was a mold issue prior to, likely worsened now. So idk if I still am on the hook for it, if so how would I know what was caused day of with it being a whole week now with no assessment done?
Help 😅TIA
TL;DR: On Aug 1 my 13-year-old clogged the toilet, tried to fix it himself, and it overflowed. We stopped it/cleaned up and told our landlords right away, but water leaked into our downstairs friends' unit (they already had an ongoing mold issue the landlords haven't fixed). Landlord said they'd come Aug 4 - he came, said our toilet valve/pump was "fine" (it was seized/failing that day, 4 people saw it) and didn't fix anything or look downstairs. Now 7 days later he still hasn't assessed the downstairs damage, and is telling them I'm supposed to fix it, which he never told me. Who is actually liable at this point since no assessment was done within 24hrs for a toilet water leak?