A tenant has a modified gross lease of a small commercial warehouse in San Fernando, CA. During the rainy seasons of 2017-2018 and the very wet 2018-2019, the tenant reported, on multiple occasions, leaks from the roof. These never seemed to have been properly addressed.
More recently, there was a severe enough leak that caused some damage by splattering as it dripped. The water is a dark rust color, and stains everything it touches.
More recently, water trapped in the ceiling insulation (which is held up by a plastic barrier) proved to be too heavy for the plastic and it ruptured, leaking all over numerous belongings. The landlord is unwilling to cover this damage, telling me that's what the tenant's insurance is for. The tenant has insurance that should cover this, but one of the few obligations the lease places on the landlord is to keep the roof in good working order.
What are the legal options? It's very hard to search for information for commercial leases; almost everything online is about residential leases.
EDIT:
Is the landlord typically liable for damage to contents in a situation like this (that is, when they've failed to maintain the roof in proper working order, and the resulting water ingress damages the contents)? Or is it some kind of standard practice that the tenant's insurance should pay, and then the insurance company deals with the landlord?
The next question is, what kind of attorney handles this sort of thing?
The most important thing is to get the landlord to fix the roof to prevent further damage. Talking to other tenants suffering similar damage, it seems they're reluctant to fix it, and downright unwilling to pay for damages.