Big issue with Landlord!!!!!

shadylane

shadylane

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Need your advices and resources here CAGS!

Story:

Wednesday afternoon our bathtub was clogged up and me and my roommate tried using a plunger to get the water running. For some reason the tub started to drop this residue and hair from the back of the drain lever ( i think thats what you call it, where you move it up to keep the water in the tub, etc)

So we called the emergency numbers that then relay this information to the main office. We also called the superintendent who never picked up his phone. We left countless messages with both parties over the course of 5 days!!!!!

I then decided to take my sunday off and cancel ALL of my clients and call plumbers all day since 8:30 AM....one finally came! at 9:00 PM. The cost was 350 dollars for the whole cleanup. I then wrote my landlord an email detailing everything that happened and what i had to resort to. I told her i would make out a check for 550 instead of 900 because of the cost.

Long story short, My landlord denied to reimburse me and told me that she was going to look into the matter. So now I'm kinda confused here because I know for a fact she has to take this out of her pocket. I want to withhold the other 350 until this matter gets resolved but i dont know if i can legally. Could you guys offer any advice, contact numbers, etc?

thanks guys!!
 
When I was younger, I would be wary to close my eyes in the shower, because I had a fear that the water would all of a sudden turn black.
 
Sounds like you or your roomates hair blocked up the drain, and I don't think the Landlord is liable for that.

But we'd need to see a pic of your head to be sure.
 
Thats what I thought as first but the drain had a problem draining since we first moved in. The plumber even said there was stuff there that was building up since years ago
 
i honestly don't believe the owner would really be responsible for the payment unless he/she got it fixed.

I mean if i owned apartments and i have people who i can get to maintain the apartments for really cheap, and a guy in an apartment breaks a window out and pays somebody $2000 to put a new one in, i'm not payin that guy $2000 back when i have a guy that i hire to do something like that for $25 or $50.

Kind of exaggerated the numbers but you get my point.
 
[quote name='Cracka']i honestly don't believe the owner would really be responsible for the payment unless he/she got it fixed.

I mean if i owned apartments and i have people who i can get to maintain the apartments for really cheap, and a guy in an apartment breaks a window out and pays somebody $2000 to put a new one in, i'm not payin that guy $2000 back when i have a guy that i hire to do something like that for $25 or $50.

Kind of exaggerated the numbers but you get my point.[/QUOTE]

Cracka,

I completely understand where you are coming from. But ask yourself this... If you could not take a shower for almost a week and the resources that were provided to you at the time of living in the apartment denied you of service, what would you do? would you not shell out the dough and make your landlord pay or negligence to a proper living condition?
 
I'm not disagreeing with you, i would've done the same thing i was just saying i understand her not wanting to pay for it. But yea it is pretty much their fault for not responding.
 
Read your lease, most plumbing problems like the one you described in your OP are not the landlords responsibility but the renters responsibility.
 
Most states require that you provide the landlord with notice and allow a reasonable amount of time for him to fix the problem.

You should have waited for your landlord to respond. At this juncture, all you can do is examine the lease and see if you can show that it was the landlords responsibility.
 
It does not say anything about a time limit. I did let me landlord know. Through 20 phone calls! 1 week is more than enough time.
 
[quote name='shadylane']It does not say anything about a time limit. I did let me landlord know. Through 20 phone calls! 1 week is more than enough time.[/QUOTE]

Then you're in the clear... no judge would rule against you if it ever came to that. Just write her a check for $550 and include a copy of the plumbing bill. Just make sure that you weren't the cause of the problem.
 
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shady i wouldnt pay the cash end of story, me and my roomies have had problems with both sets of drains (upstairs and downstairs) backing up, our landlords got roto rooter out here in less than 2 days on both occasions and we didnt pay a fucking dime, and we only had to notify them once, so i would with hold the money as well
 
[quote name='kill3r7']Than you're in the clear... no judge would rule against you if it ever came to that. Just write her a check for $550 and include a copy of the plumbing bill. Just make sure that you weren't the cause of the problem.[/quote]

Agreed, I'd do the same. I think you're in the clear bud.
 
Yeah fuck that, don't pay for it. We always use Liquid Plummer first and try to get shit out ourselves. If it doesn't work we call management and get it fixed free of charge. In a REASONABLE amount of time for a problem far less than yours.
 
There should be a legal clinic in your area, usually in conjunction with a local law school. Contact them immediately. Legal clinic attorneys become experts in tenant/landlord contract law because there's so many disputes. They would be able to give you free advice on how to approach this.

The faster you move, the faster you will have the information required to move appropriately. A letter from a legal clinic attorney helped me with a landlord that kept blaming me for an air conditioning problem. The landlord went from recalcitrant jerk to bent over backwords little worm in no time flat.

Hurry.
 
[quote name='speedracer']There should be a legal clinic in your area, usually in conjunction with a local law school. Contact them immediately. Legal clinic attorneys become experts in tenant/landlord contract law because there's so many disputes. They would be able to give you free advice on how to approach this.

The faster you move, the faster you will have the information required to move appropriately. A letter from a legal clinic attorney helped me with a landlord that kept blaming me for an air conditioning problem. The landlord went from recalcitrant jerk to bent over backwords little worm in no time flat.

Hurry.[/QUOTE]

Sweet. Does anybody have a number for the NYC area? I tried calling multiple places and they were all rude and not helpful at all.
 
[quote name='spoo']Read your lease, most plumbing problems like the one you described in your OP are not the landlords responsibility but the renters responsibility.[/QUOTE]

opposite, the landlord is responsible for the plumbing, heating (and cooling), and appliances if they go bad. So, if they are negligent in fixing shit, I would be willing to bet you could actually take them to small claims court to work it out. Like someone else said though, check your lease and go from there.

Also, as I like to instigate, if they have a problem with it, just say wwwwaaaaahhhhh, I don't answer my phone or get back to my tenants. So wwwwaaaaahhhh, my landlord is out threefifty... wwwwaaaaahhhhh

FYI they may cry after you say this (be prepared) and if they start running their mouths after you say this, follow it up with a repeated "Shut it"

Hope all works out for you on the real!
 
No response for a week is total crap. Get somebody on the phone and see if they'll be reasonable about it, unless you've already spoke on the phone. From your posts it sounds like it might have all been e-mail so far. Although I guess if you couldn't get anybody for a week originally you might not have any better luck now. :whee:

If not, then yeah you gotta figure out what you can legally do. You don't want to go with your own gameplan and end up being wrong and then out late rent fees in addition to the plumbing bill.
 
[quote name='mastagoalie']opposite, the landlord is responsible for the plumbing, heating (and cooling), and appliances if they go bad. So, if they are negligent in fixing shit, I would be willing to bet you could actually take them to small claims court to work it out. Like someone else said though, check your lease and go from there.
[/QUOTE]

Every lease is different and a clogged drain is one of the things that are different on each lease. I have lived in places that will cover clogged drains and others that won't unless you can prove it is from normal wear and tear and not neglect on your part. The tricky part is that you fixed it before formally letting your landlord know (Phone calls and voice message for a week isn't a formal complaint.) The way I have always been told *YMMV is that a letter (not email) of complaint needs to be written and then and only then you have a legal right if you don't have a response in 7 days. Of course all cities and states have different laws but they all are similar.

With that said the most important thing for you to do first is to READ YOUR LEASE.
 
[quote name='shadylane']Sweet. Does anybody have a number for the NYC area? I tried calling multiple places and they were all rude and not helpful at all.[/QUOTE]

http://www.legal-aid.org/en/findus/locations.aspx you can call up your local legal aid office. I know for a fact that in NYC you're allowed to make a deduction in your rent payment for any out of pocket expenses that were due to landlord's lack of timely response/remedy (you have to show/prove that clogged drain was not caused by your negligent behavior). Print out a copy of the email and include the plumbing invoice along with your monthly rent payment, that should do the trick.
 
[quote name='wubb']No response for a week is total crap. Get somebody on the phone and see if they'll be reasonable about it, unless you've already spoke on the phone. From your posts it sounds like it might have all been e-mail so far. Although I guess if you couldn't get anybody for a week originally you might not have any better luck now. :whee:

If not, then yeah you gotta figure out what you can legally do. You don't want to go with your own gameplan and end up being wrong and then out late rent fees in addition to the plumbing bill.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, don't you hate it when someone does something totally retarded and then isn't held accountable for it? Don't you hate it when someone does something uncalled for simply out of spite? Don't you hate it when someone, rather than own up to what they did, runs away like a little girl? Don't you hate that, wubb?
 
Your state laws will supercede any agreement in the lease that is outside the law. Her lack of a timely response is what will save you. Personally, tho, I would have used a little draino. Works wonders for this kind of thing. Save you a week without a bath next time.
 
[quote name='hORRIDO2']Your state laws will supercede any agreement in the lease that is outside the law. Her lack of a timely response is what will save you. Personally, tho, I would have used a little draino. Works wonders for this kind of thing. Save you a week without a bath next time.[/QUOTE]

Draino doesn't always work.
 
[quote name='shadylane']Sweet. Does anybody have a number for the NYC area? I tried calling multiple places and they were all rude and not helpful at all.[/QUOTE]

depends on where you mean by "NYC area". are you in manhattan, bronx, LI, Jersey City, Westchester, etc. There are TONS of free legal aid in the area and it's easy to find. google that shit. NYU, Pace, Fordham, Stonybrook, Columbia, etc all have law schools.
 
Yikes.. on one hand I would say that you should not have made your own arrangements for repair if you expected the landlord to cover it. On the other hand, no response for a week? WTF? As everyone else has already said, check your lease agreement but you should probably expect to eat the cost.

For what it's worth, google is your friend. Between having a long haired woman and a cat that likes to play in the tub, we were getting back-ups all the time. I figured I'd try snaking the bastard and it worked like a charm. They're less than $15 at walmart and fairly easy to use once you get the hang of it. Word of warning.. it is fucking disgusting what comes up and I absolutely hated it everytime I had to snake. None of us had black hair, but the clogs would come up as black sludgy ass clumps that I'd have to twist back off the spiral at the end of the snake. GROSS. So every once in a while I'd dump some draino down the tub even if there were no signs of backing up.
 
Why, did you save all the hair and gack in a bag for them to "investigate"?

Anyway, congrats on a successful resolution.
 
[quote name='shadylane']Huge update guys!!!!!!!!!

They decided to reimburse me after "careful investiagton"[/quote]

Excellent. Just reading it right now but it sounds like your landlord decided to do the stand-up thing.

I suggest sending a letter if anything like this happens again - if you have a lawyer friend cc them.
 
[quote name='shadylane']drano made it worse....[/QUOTE]

Just for future reference, go to home depot or lowes and get a snake to snake it out yourself if you don't feel like waiting. They're like 15 bucks.
 
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