Re: tenant responsibilities? - Landlord Forum thread

Re: tenant responsibilities? by Anonymous on June 27, 2012 @09:45

So you want to charge the tenants for the main line being stopped up! How do you know what caused the problem! How long do you think you will have tenants still renting from you!Bad Idea!!!!!

[ Reply ] [ Return to forum ]

Re: tenant responsibilities? by Jack (Pa) on June 27, 2012 @09:58	[ Reply ]

OK, bad idea on my part. I will not issue the invoices, but what is the point of having the plumbing clause in the lease if they are just going to call me to fix clogs? What would be the best way to handle the situation? If I did nothing and tenants did not call a plumber I would be dealing with damages and a nasty cleanup.

Re: tenant responsibilities? by The Dude (MN) on June 27, 2012 @10:09	[ Reply ]

If it was outside of the building and not their fault, why would they pay anything? I'm not sure why you want them to pay for the work you did. Your payment is not having to pay a plumber to do the work you did.

Re: tenant responsibilities? by Micah on June 27, 2012 @10:32	[ Reply ]

The point is for when you call the plumber and they find it stopped up with tampons or dirty underwear or children's toys... Tenant negligence is what the clause is for. I usually say that it the problem is in the pipes within 3 feet of the affected item, it's usually the tenants fault. To enforce the clause in court you really need to hire a plumber to snake all the pipes before the tenancy begins to prove to the judge that it was A-Okay to begin with.

Re: tenant responsibilities? by OK-LL on June 27, 2012 @12:17	[ Reply ]

Yes, you should divide the cost of your time evenly among the 3 rental units -- since the water was flowing freely when they rented, and it became clogged during their tenancy, it stands to reason that something one of them put down the drain caused the clog. One of the negatives of living in a shared plumbing situation such as an apartment is you get shared responsibility for problems such as this.

Re: tenant responsibilities? by jannie (IL) on June 27, 2012 @12:54	[ Reply ]

If I were the LL I wouldn't have charged anything as it sounds like tree roots had caused the problem. And, as LL if I were luckily enough to be able to fix without plumber I would have been happy. Unless the cause of the clog is directly caused by tenant I don't believe T should be charged.

Re: tenant responsibilities?