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It’s not her mess, but an Oklahoma woman is on the hook to pay for damage done by it.

Opal Washington moved into the new Mount Olive Senior Cottages, 3856 N Kelley Ave., six months ago. Three weeks ago, a pipe burst in the ceiling of her rented apartment, ruining furniture and putting her out of her home.

Washington doesn’t have renter’s insurance. She and her family don’t think she needs it in this case. Mount Olive officials wouldn’t comment on Washington’s situation but said this is an opportunity to learn about the benefits of being covered.

On Jan. 9, the 63-year-old was in the back of her apartment when she was startled by a loud noise.

“I heard this sound and then water gushing, so I ran into the living room to see what it was,” Washington said.

She found a hole in the ceiling and water spraying from a burst pipe.

Insulation from the attic had spilled out with the water and mixed with it, forming sludge on her furniture, walls and carpet.

She went to a nearby unit to call for help and was met by the fire department and the complex maintenance man.

An Oklahoma City Fire Department report states firefighters responded to the unit to find a “busted water pipe” connected to the sprinkler. They found the main valve, closed it and removed excess water from the home.

Once the water was off, Washington’s home was soggy with water.

Her television and other electronics were soaked, and her furniture covered with the sticky sludge.

Maintenance workers removed the baseboards in the unit and moved already wet papers, blankets and keepsakes onto the dry bed in her master bedroom and into the bathtub in the bathroom. Some dried insulation was swept out of her home after heaters placed around the house dried it up.

But her damaged and ruined items remain stacked on their sides, some unusable.

Property management workers gave her another unit and a love seat, but Washington can’t live there without the accoutrements of her home. She’s been living with a cousin since.

“They told me I had to clean it up, and get it all out of here,” Washington said.

“I just don’t know what to do.”

Dawn Terrell, 32, Washington’s daughter-in-law, said Washington is still waiting for answers. Terrell called advocacy organizations to find help.

Terrell said property management told her they weren’t liable for the damage and to move all of the damaged and dirty furniture out of the unit.

“We’re not asking for much. We just want her to be comfortable like she was before,” Terrell said.

The cottages were built through a partnership between Greater Mount Olive Urban Ministries, a limited liability corporation affiliated with Mount Olive Baptist Church, and the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City.

Scott Farris, vice president of Western Property Management, the company managing the Mount Olive Senior Cottages, said his is a service organization and there to help residents. He could not comment on Washington’s situation, stating that lease and maintenance issues relating to tenants are not discussed publicly.

He said property insurance that might cover damage to the home does not typically cover harm done to a tenant’s property.

“We always encourage people to be covered by renter’s insurance,” he said.

Often tenants that live through fire, floods and other problems in their rental home find out the hard way they are responsible for repairing or replacing their property, he said.

Lydia Green, an attorney and technical coordinator for the Metropolitan FairHousing Council, said as a general rule, landlords and management aren’t responsible for personal belongings owned by tenants.

“As a precaution, it’s something renters need to have because it covers the personal property in the home,” Green said.

She said unless a leasing contract states otherwise, renters should assume they will be responsible for replacing or repairing their belongings in the event of a fire, theft, flood or other disaster. Many leases will explicitly state management is not responsible for these things.

“A lot of times we think management is going to take care of everything, but you’re responsible for what’s yours in the rental, and they are responsible for the property itself,” she said.

“It’s one of those things we don’t even think about until we need it.”