Re: Many Clogged Drains - Landlord Forum thread 351701

Re: Many Clogged Drains by Katiekate (New York) on April 16, 2017 @19:47

I had these sort of problems with a particular group of students.

I changed my lease. Now, during the move-in walk thru, the tenant verifies and signs the walk thru stating that all drain were open and draining freely.
The lease contains a paragraph that states the tenant is solely responsible for maintaining the drains in working order...and must return the unit with all drains open and draining freely.

I had a tenant call because a drain was clogged. I told them to call their own plumber and reminded them of the lease.

I did once have a tenant claim it must be roots closing up a drain. I told them I would get my plumber out to verify that and fix it. But..if it wasn't the case...they would have to pay for both the plumber and my maintenance guy to accompany him. Tenant decided to call his own plumber...never heard a word about it later,

Granted..this won't fix the problem now....but, in the future...put it in your lease. Just be sure you have the tenant sign the move in walk thru or they might claim it was that way when they moved in.

Over the course of many years of being a landlord...my lease has gone from a simple 2 page 4 paragraph document to over 12 pages and 36 paragraphs. Every new situation, I learn something more to handle thru the lease.

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Re: Many Clogged Drains by Jeff (CO) on April 16, 2017 @22:38	[ Reply ]

Katiekate - great response. Thanks. What a mess this is. I had a drain company scheduled to come out tomorrow. The tenant gets home and the kitchen sink is overflowing and the living room (hardwood floor) is covered with water. And it's Sunday night. I have my people on it, but I hate this. The drain thing is a little complicated. Sometimes it can be caused by another unit. Anyway, thanks again.