Coop: leak damage after warning

[auletta]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CT

I own a unit in a coop building in CT. My bathtub has always drained slowly, and in December 2013, it blocked up altogether (water draining in bathroom sink was also coming back out from the tub drain). I was leaving town for the holidays shortly before this, so I called building maintenance after I left to tell ask them to fix it, mentioning specifically that a) it was the tub drain, and b) I thought they should check out the pipes because it seemed to be blocked at or close to where the pipes from my unit joined the common pipes. They tell me all is done and charge me for it, which I was happy to pay.

Yesterday, the bathtub blocks up again, same symptoms as last time. It was at night, so I tried to use a plunger to see if it might open up, but soon the downstairs unit reported that it was leaking into their bathroom.

Today, the downstairs unit demand that maintenance repair the leak damage (cutting open plaster, replacing pipes, installing an access panel; all this in the downstairs unit, but it's obviously pipes from my bathtub being replaced). Maintenance does this and demand that I pay the bill. They first accuse me of not doing anything about it "for a long time." They then backtrack from this position after it turns out that the damage they were repairing dates from only two days ago. Furthermore, it emerged from the conversation that when they charged me for fixing the bathtub back in December, they only put drain clearer down the bathroom sink, and did not think to check the tub or the pipes at all as I suggested. It turns out that the leak was caused by erosion of the 60-year-old brass piping.

So I was hoping you might know something to help me here, perhaps on these points:

- The leak resulted from damage to a pipe that I specifically warned them about half a year ago.
- The cost includes the cost of installing an access panel to the pipes, which they themselves say should have been put in much earlier: so why am I being charged for it?

Thanks for your help!

 

[AlmostALawyer]

By any chance does your Co-op have some sort of an agreement among the owners? From experience, these agreements, if correctly written, detail which parties are responsible for particular repairs. For example, I've seen where Co-op owners collectively are responsible for the costs associated with maintaining and repairing common areas of the building or parts of the building that all unit owners enjoy (i.e. elevators, fire escapes, internal plumbing, cooling towers, etc.).

 

[auletta]

By any chance does your Co-op have some sort of an agreement among the owners? From experience, these agreements, if correctly written, detail which parties are responsible for particular repairs. For example, I've seen where Co-op owners collectively are responsible for the costs associated with maintaining and repairing common areas of the building or parts of the building that all unit owners enjoy (i.e. elevators, fire escapes, internal plumbing, cooling towers, etc.).

I don't believe there is one, but I will double check. Thanks!

 

[festival]

I don't believe there is one, but I will double check. Thanks!

The "agreement" will be in the governing documents of your co-op, most likely in the declaration (or proprietary lease for older co-ops). It should have a definition of the units, the common elements, and the limited common elements, as well as all the maintenance responsibilities. Your unit may or may not include the drain pipe that goes to your tub, and so you may or may not be responsible for the maintenance and repair of that pipe. Just because a pipe goes to your tub does not automatically mean that you own it or are responsible.

 

[auletta]

The "agreement" will be in the governing documents of your co-op, most likely in the declaration (or proprietary lease for older co-ops). It should have a definition of the units, the common elements, and the limited common elements, as well as all the maintenance responsibilities. Your unit may or may not include the drain pipe that goes to your tub, and so you may or may not be responsible for the maintenance and repair of that pipe. Just because a pipe goes to your tub does not automatically mean that you own it or are responsible.

Ah, yes. It is called the proprietary lease. Here's the relevant passage:

Subject to the provisions of Paragraph 4 above [about destruction by fire], the Lessee shall keep the interior of the apartment (including interior walls, floors and ceilings, but excluding windows, window panes, window frames, sashes, sills, entrance doors, frames and saddles) in good repair, shall do all of the painting and decorating required to his apartment, including the interior of window frames, sashes and sills, and shall be solely responsible for the maintenance repair, and replacement of plumbing, gas and heating fixtures and equipment and such refrigerators, dishwashers, removable and through-the–wall air conditioners, washing machines, ranges and other appliances, as may be in the apartment. Plumbing, gas and heating fixtures as used herein shall include exposed gas, steam and water pipes attached to fixtures, appliances and equipment and the fixtures, appliances and equipment to which they are attached, and any special pipes or equipment which the Lessee may install within the wall or ceiling, or under the floor, but shall not include gas, steam water or other pipes or conduits within the walls, ceilings or floors or air conditioning or heating equipment which is part of the standard building equipment.

So by this reading, pipes in the ceilings of the unit under mine would not be my responsibility. Here's how I see how it then plays out; any comments would be appreciated:

It seems they'd have to claim that the damage was caused either by 1) my lack of promptness in reporting the problem or 2) my using a plunger on a blocked drain. For 2), I don't think use of a plunger is unreasonable in the case of a blocked drain. As for 1), it's a bit more complicated. The immediate cause of damage, the leak, was discovered by the downstairs unit and reported the same day, but they might argue a long-term cause of the damaged pipe. I don't have any written proof that I told maintenance about the pipes, and they claim they were only asked and worked on the the sink. But it seems a very tenuous connection between blocked pipes (which was what I knew) and pipes that leak because they were eroded.

Thoughts?

 

[festival]

I generally agree with your interpretation. Your documents should also contain definitions and the responsibilities of the co-op for pipes, which should back up those statements that you quoted.

You say that "the leak was caused by erosion of the 60-year-old brass piping." Based on that, it does not appear that either you or your maintenance people caused the leak and neither of you is negligent. After 60 years, some pipes will fail and it is not anyone's fault.

Warning them of a slowly draining pipe does not make them responsible for 60 years of erosion, but then again, you are also not negligent and you should not have to pay for water damage. The cause is an eroded pipe, not who said what when.

There is usually a drain-stop lever in the tub that controls a mechanism that stops the drain to fill the tub. In my opinion, this mechanism and the pipe that surrounds it would be considered part the fixture (the tub) and not part of the drain pipe. If that was leaking, then it would be your responsibility.

There is also a trap under the tub. I'm not sure whether the trap would be considered part of the tub fixture or part of the drain pipe. I think probably the trap is a necessary part of the fixture or the connection of the fixture to the drain, and so the trap would be your responsibility if it was leaking. Someone else may have a different opinion.