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Who is liable for leaks/plumbing issues in rental situations for businesses if the issue is known and unfixed?

Hey guys, I need a little help here on how to handle a situation. My landlord (basically a slum lord in the St Louis area) rented me a huge storefront that had sat empty for years. There are apartments above the storefront, and I use the storefront for storage and some work space. The building is more than 100 years old itself, so it needs extensive repair. When I moved in, I was told by the maintainance man as well as the property manager at the time that there was leaks in the building but that they were fixed and it was fine now. I could see the signs of the leaks down the wall in the back of the store, and I had to do extensive cleaning on the storefront before I could move in. I sell books online, and we are exclusively online, we have no customers that ever come to our storefront/warehouse/storage area. Yesterday, I came to work and found that a large amount of my stock had been damaged by a leaking pipe. This is the fourth pipe that has had issues since I moved in two years ago, but until now my inventory hadn't been affected. The landlord is well aware of the situation, and has been told by two different plumbers that this old building needs new plumbing immediately, and that they could go at any time, but he refuses to fix it. My financial situation has kept me here, I can't afford to move my stock out because I'm getting the place very cheap, about half of what a similarly sized building would cost me in the same area (since nobody else would rent it!), and I can't afford renter's or small business insurance either due to the building itself and the type of business I own. My question is this: who's liable for the damage to my inventory in this situation if the pipes burst and the place is flooded? I've been told two different stories by two different people, the original maintainance man told me that the landlord was responsible because he knows of the situation and has been advised multiple times to get it fixed as well as lying to me upon me moving in and telling me there was no further problems with the plumbing, but another person (a property manager) told me that he wasn't and it would be my responsibility to get renter's insurance, which was going to cost me a huge amount of money according to a couple of quotes that I received. My father is undergoing cancer treatment in Houston for a rare form of cancer, and that's eating up all of my free money, driving back and forth between St Louis and Houston, and it's just been hell dealing with this worry of my business and his health as well as taking care of my wife and son on top of it. Any advice you could give would be SO greatly appreciated!

Public Comments

1. . In some ways, this is a case of "You get what you pay for.". YOu rented a cheap place but it turned out expensive because it ruined your books. You know the landlord is responsible for the leak. You know that you were on notice that leaks and water were a potential danger. Once you were put on notice, you have an increased liability. YOu could no longer leave books on the floor and be certain that they were safe. YOu dont have much money. Landlords who refuse to fix plumbing usually are not flush with cash. I would take this one to judgejudy.com. She will sort it out and pay you money.
2. "If" is a very important word here. If he knows. - a property manager says he doesn't. - and the landlord can use that as his defense. Originally both the maintenance and property manager told you there were leaks and now they were fixed and no further problems. Did some other maintenance man tell you something different? And his interest would be? Insurance is something you have to get. What happens if the building burns down? You are screwed. Can't help you with the medical. That is a different problem totally unrelated. Don't like the building, too costly for insurance? Get out. You still need insurance no matter WHAT building you go into. That is the cost of having a business.
3. "who's liable for the damage to my inventory in this situation if the pipes burst and the place is flooded?" You are. You are responsible to either get insurance to cover these issues or eat the cost. The landlord is not responsible to insure your personal property or inventory, you are.