who is responsible?

[mg]

I live in a college town and rent an apartment that is managed by a company that is notorious for renting overpriced slums to students. The plumbing in my building has been difficult since I moved in, and I would often come home to find that sewage had made its way back up through the toilet long after the last time it had been flushed. I returned home after being gone for several days to find that this had occured, so I flushed the toilet and it began to overflow. The water went down through the vents into the apartment of the tenant underneath me. The next morning he was banging on my door, saying that the water had damaged a leather couch that he paid $1200 for. He went to the rental company and they showed him the lease he had signed which absolved them of responsibility for damaged property, then suggested that he go after me for the money. He says since the couch is a few years old he wants $500 for it (this was the estimate for what it would have cost to get it cleaned as well). He is threatening to take me to small claims court if I do not agree to pay him. I feel that I should have no responsibility for his property, even if the water did come from my apartment, because the plumbing in the entire building seems to be faulty. He even admitted to me that two days later, his toilet was stopping up, and that a few months before sewage was coming up through his shower drain. The rental company and I have been going back and forth as well over who should pay for some tile damage that occured. At first they were trying to hold me fully responsible, now they are trying to charge me for half the cost of repairs. They say the plumber cited too much paper in the pipes as the reason for the overflow, but as I said before, the pipes never seemed to be sufficient at carrying everything down. I have a friend who owned a building that they managed briefly, and he says that he had to re-repair everything that they ever fixed and that they left his building in very poor condition. Can any of this information help prove that it was not my fault? Technically, who is at fault in a situation such as this? Would I be better off settling out of court with my neighbor, (who has been so aggressive and unpleasent that I have not spent a single night at my apartment since this incident occured almost a month ago to avoid dealing with him)? If he does take me to small claims court, what should I do?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mg:
I live in a college town and rent an apartment that is managed by a company that is notorious for renting overpriced slums to students. The plumbing in my building has been difficult since I moved in, and I would often come home to find that sewage had made its way back up through the toilet long after the last time it had been flushed. I returned home after being gone for several days to find that this had occured, so I flushed the toilet and it began to overflow. The water went down through the vents into the apartment of the tenant underneath me. The next morning he was banging on my door, saying that the water had damaged a leather couch that he paid $1200 for. He went to the rental company and they showed him the lease he had signed which absolved them of responsibility for damaged property, then suggested that he go after me for the money. He says since the couch is a few years old he wants $500 for it (this was the estimate for what it would have cost to get it cleaned as well). He is threatening to take me to small claims court if I do not agree to pay him. I feel that I should have no responsibility for his property, even if the water did come from my apartment, because the plumbing in the entire building seems to be faulty. He even admitted to me that two days later, his toilet was stopping up, and that a few months before sewage was coming up through his shower drain. The rental company and I have been going back and forth as well over who should pay for some tile damage that occured. At first they were trying to hold me fully responsible, now they are trying to charge me for half the cost of repairs. They say the plumber cited too much paper in the pipes as the reason for the overflow, but as I said before, the pipes never seemed to be sufficient at carrying everything down. I have a friend who owned a building that they managed briefly, and he says that he had to re-repair everything that they ever fixed and that they left his building in very poor condition. Can any of this information help prove that it was not my fault? Technically, who is at fault in a situation such as this? Would I be better off settling out of court with my neighbor, (who has been so aggressive and unpleasent that I have not spent a single night at my apartment since this incident occured almost a month ago to avoid dealing with him)? If he does take me to small claims court, what should I do?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds like the building has an ongoing problem with the drain/waste piping system. The building owner, the owners' insurance or the tenants' insurance should be responsible to pay for damages, not you. If you get taken to court, file a counterclaim against the property management co. and the owner for failure to maintain and repair the drain pipes causing the backup and flooding. Put all the blame on them and accept none. Do not take anymore crap from them as you have taken enough already in more ways than one.

 

[Tracey]

File a complaint with the local building inspector alleging that the frequent sewage backups constitute a threat to tenants' health & asking them to inspect the premises & cite L if appropriate. Read keeshy's post for a discussion of L's duty to repair & how tenants can pay rent to the court to force L to fix things. It's Virginia law, but the principles are the same. You might even be able to convince your fellow tenants to join in your suit. This gives the court lots more money to work with, puts more pressure on L, & increases the likelihood you might collect punitive damages or a rent abatement.

L's claim to your neighbor that they are not responsible for the damage to the couch is incorrect. A landlord's limitation of liability says that L is not responsible if T's stuff gets stolen or burns down due to an act of god. However, if L has a duty to repair & does not repair properly, L is liable for any resulting damage. Ls cannot make Ts sign leases that essentially relieve L of a statutory duty to repair! Also, "too much paper" is a BS excuse. If that were the cause, the problem would happen only when some bozo tried to flush a paper towel, rather than every week!

Regarding your neighbor: write him & tell him that you feel he is harrassing you, that L is responsible for the couch & you aren't, & that if he bothers you any more, you'll take out a restraining order against him & file criminal charges. Then move back in!

Good luck.

This is the CO mobile home L duty to repair statute, but the residential L duty to repair statute is likely identical.

38-12-212.3. Responsibilities of landlord - acts prohibited. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a landlord shall be responsible for and pay the cost of the maintenance and repair of:
(I) Any sewer lines, utility service lines, or related connections owned and provided by the landlord to the utility pedestal or pad space for a mobile home sited in the park; and
(II) Any accessory buildings or structures, including, but not limited to, sheds and carports, owned by the landlord and provided for the use of the residents; and
(III) The premises as defined in section 38-12-201.5 (5).
(b) Any landlord who fails to maintain or repair the items delineated in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be responsible for and pay the cost of repairing any damage to a mobile home which results from such failure.
(2) No landlord shall require a resident to assume the responsibilities outlined in subsection (1) of this section as a condition of tenancy in the mobile home park.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as:
(a) Limiting the liability of a resident for the cost of repairing any damage caused by such resident to the landlord's property or other property located in the park; or
(b) Restricting a landlord or his agent or a property manager from requiring a resident to comply with reasonable rules and regulations or terms of the rental agreement and any covenants binding upon the landlord or resident, including covenants running with the land which pertain to the cleanliness of such resident's lot and routine lawn and yard maintenance, exclusive of major landscaping projects.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.

[This message has been edited by Tracey (edited July 24, 2000).]