You have property rights and in most places, a neighbor cannot do something drainage-wise that negatively affects one of their neighbors. For example, a neighbor can't concentrate and redirect the flow of their water onto your property. Neither can they stop the natural sheet flow of water coming onto their property. If, in fact, this is what you think they did, then it would be in your best interest to speak to them about it. If that's not satisfactory, consult with competent legal advice. But before you go off accusing anyone of anything, you should actually find out and document with video (if it's someone else's fault) exactly what is happening with storm water in a heavy downpour. It will be obvious and documenting it will help immensely with making your case.

"question marknoun : the punctuation mark ? that is used after a direct question or to indicate that something (such as a birth date) is uncertain : someone or something that causes feelings of doubt or uncertainty CloseStyle: MLA APA ChicagoFull Definition of QUESTION MARK 1a : something unknown, unknowable, or uncertain b : someone (as an athlete) whose condition, talent, or potential for success is in doubt 2: a mark ? used in writing and printing at the conclusion of a sentence to indicate a direct question H.Kuska comment: The above is from the Merriam-Webster on line dictionary. see the following link: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/question%20mark ---------------------------------------------- "Question Marks are used to: -Indicate the sentence is a question -Demonstrate Surprise -Show Skepticism, uncertainty and the unknown" H.Kuska comment: The above is from the following link: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Question-Marks-Correctly -------------------------------------------------- "How to Use Question Marks Correctly? It's also useful for demonstrating surprise, skepticism, uncertainty, and the unknown." H.Kuska comment: The above is from the following link: http://prezi.com/k4rfmk7bgduv/question-mark-and-exclamation-mark/ ------------------------------------------ H.Kuska comment: Please notice that all 3 allow for the use of the question mark to indicate uncertainty. I tried to explain that "The presence of the question mark indicates that the possibility mentioned is not a fact."

Kweenie, The difference is that a fire is not usually a result of direct negligence on the management's fault. If it were then you probably could sue them. For instance, if an electrician told them they had faulty wiring that was a fire hazard and they opted not to fix it, and that wiring caused the building to burn down, the tenant's losses would be a direct result of the managements negligence, and I'd bet they could win. Same here, this was a result of negligence. I have a friend who lives in the same building his sister lives in. It's a highrise, but the units are owned, like condos. The bylaws state very clearly that the highrise management company is not responsible for damages to personal property. My friend's sister had insurance to cover her belongings. When the pipes in the building froze and burst, sending a virtual waterfall into her apartment, my friend told her not to even report it to the insurance company. Instead he threatened the management company with a lawsuit, because the damages to her property were a direct result of their negligence. They bought her all new furniture. If any damage had been done to my washer, dryer, or upright freezer when our maintenance crew incorrectly installed our hot water heater, causing the outlet pipe to burst sending scalding hot water spraying all over our utility room, you better believe they would have bought us new appliances. Would have paid our hospital bills to if my husband had been hurt running into all that scalding hot water to shut off the intake to the water heater. Basically, damages to tenant's property that are outside the apartment management's control, like storms, trees falling down, fires, are not the responsibility of the management. But if negligence can be shown to be the reason for the damage, you better believe they can be held responsible. You might have to actually take them to small claims court, cuz they'll calim that your renter's insurance is responsible.

I'm glad everyone is alright. I did a quick search on "how to remove fire smoke odor from clothes" and found this link to be rather comprehensive although it seems to involve a lot of profesional help (e.g. treat textile with ozone to remove smell). Otherwise, the usual suspects seem to be vinegar and/or baking soda to remove the smell. I'd wash them before to get the oily soot off. Alex Here is a link that might be useful: After the Fire is Out: Cleaning Household Textiles and Clothing