As a tenant am I held responsible for a leaking washer in an apt building?

I live in an apt complex with 3 apartments on the second floor, one is vacant and is being advertised with "laundry available on site." The washer was never hooked up before this, so I went up and checked and all the hoses were attached. I then called the building inspector because I was told that the reason the washer was never hooked up before was because they needed to fire proof the room, and the inspector said it passed the insepction. And there was no sign stating not to use the washer, so I then ran the washer through 1 cycle (it was sitting for a long time, so I wanted to make sure it worked ok). It appears that the hoses in the back of the washer were not installed properly causing it to leak into the conference room right below on the first floor causing a lot of damange. The landlord now wants me to reimburse her for damages caused by the leak. The leak was not from misuse, but from the hoses not being attached right, which I did not have any part of. Am I responsible?

I live in an apt complex with 3 apartments on the second floor with "laundry available on site" advertised. The washer is in a laundry room for tenants but was never hooked up before this, so I went up and checked and all the hoses were attached. I then called the building inspector because I was told that the reason the washer was never hooked up before was because they needed to fire proof the room, and the inspector said it passed the insepction. And there was no sign stating not to use the washer, so I then ran the washer through 1 cycle (it was sitting for a long time, so I wanted to make sure it worked ok). It appears that the hoses in the back of the washer were not installed properly causing it to leak into the conference room right below on the first floor causing a lot of damange. The landlord now wants me to reimburse her for damages caused by the leak. The leak was not from misuse, but from the hoses not being attached right, which I did not have any part of. Am I responsib

I rented a downstairs apartment once from an old woman that lived upstairs. It was a pretty nice apartment for the money at the time. The washer and dryer to her home was located in the basement adjacent to my apartment. It would overflow (the washer) and soak my carpet. There were times I would come home to find my floor sopping wet and would have to move furniture to keep it from ruining. She was nice enough and the son would bring his wet vac and leave it for me to use to get the water up. I was stupid to it all and did what I could. After a while I found mushrooms. yes mushrooms growing in the carpet. Good sign that mold was present huh?

I moved and moved fast.

If the washer and dryer are there for the use of the tenants then it is the Landlord's responsibility to make sure they are ready for use. Period.

If you used it before the all clear was sent out then you may be liable. But if it was clear that it was ready for use then the Landlord is responsible.

If you were in an area where you should not have had access then you are responsible for your actions here.

Based solely on the facts in your post the landlord has a very good case against you.

1. the apratment was not yours and you had no right to be there;

2. It matters not that the leak was from misuse or not. It was unauthorized use.

I would stronly suggest you try to work out an agreement.

TO 37YEAROLD:

I suggest you re-read the post and not put in your own assumptions.

EDITED BASED ON ADDITIONAL INFO:

That still does not change my answer. You had no authority to hook the washer up and to run it. You assumed liability for your actions when you did. You cannot now come before the court and claim that you have no responsibility because the door was open.

again I would stronly suggest that you try to negotiate a settlement. You have a very weak defense to damages.

I would say, no, you are not responsible.

Although I can't help thinking there is something you are not telling us. What led you to check the hoses, call the building inspector, etc, if there was no sign saying that the washers were not to be used? How did you know the washer hadn't been used before and was sitting for a long time?

And most importantly, why did you call the building inspector on your own instead of asking the landlord? That seems very strange.

EDIT: I read the comments above - I didn't realize it was in a different apartment than the one you were renting. That changes everything. You should not have been in there. THAT is why you didn't ask the landlord.

Yes, you are responsible. You are lucky you weren't criminally charged. That's called breaking and entering. You are not allowed to waltz into any apartment you want and use what is in there - that property belongs to your Landlord or the new Tenant (when it is occupied). You used a washing machine without permission and caused a lot of damage. You will have to pay for it. The landlord can sue you and win. She can have your wages garnished, your taxes intercepted, etc. If I were you, I would be really REALLY nice to the Landlord and enter into a written settlement agreement before you pay her any money! Also, hire your own expert to assess the damage IF you don't trust your Landlord's expert. Don't rely on your Landlord to give you damage costs. Landlords can fake receipts for damage or may include damage that was already there. Usually, there won't be structural damage with a one-time flood - but there may be mold, sheet rock, and floor covering damage.

I don't know what these people are talking about. You say in your first sentence you LIVE in an apartment complex. You were not in a different apartment, that is absurd. You were using the facilities that is on the site WHERE YOU LIVE. You knew the washers were sitting there a long time because you live there. Duh people. Ok, that out of the way I would say NO you are not responsible. There was no sign saying do not use the washers, the building inspector told you that the only reason they weren't hooked up before was because they didn't pass their fire inspection, but now they had passed it, so you acted reasonably given the information you were given. I would get a lawyer. It is definitely not your responsibility.