Mfirst homeowners claim due to new boarder -

[Bethy]

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

I am a divorced empty nester with 3 bedrooms. I recently started renting out one of the rooms to a local young woman (28 yo) 17 days ago. We do have a rental agreement and it includes sole use of the hallway bathroom. Last Friday night late, somehow the toilet overflowed, but I sense she just kept trying to flush it, or only a few gallons would have poured out. I do not know how long the water was pouring out, but do know she tried (and failed) to use a plunger. She did not know to turn off the water valve which is right below the toilet. Once I saw what happened, I plunged 10 seconds to get it to stop.

Within minutes of doing that, I realized whatever amt of water it was, went down through the ceiling and remediation began which included 1/2 my living room ceiling, 1/3 of my dining room ceiling, soffits, aprox 60 yards of carpet being pulled out and mocrobial (?sp) spray with now 6 huge industrial blowers, a huge dehumidifier etc. I did push the furniture all out of the way as soon as I noticed so thankfully no furniture has been damaged.

I am looking through the lease (her words: "I know it wasn't my fault, but i feel bad") which I will cut and paste, but my bottom line is, can I use the $450 security deposit towards my $1000 deductable? I live in a townhome (not sure if that matters). I have never rented out a room before, but here are the parts of the lease that may have some bearing:

**********************************************************

** The LANDLORD can use the security deposit for unpaid rent and damages that are the tenant’s responsibility beyond normal wear and tear.

** When the tenant moves out, the LANDLORD will prepare a list of charges for damages and any unpaid rent The Landlord can deduct these charges, if any, from the security deposit and will return the balance within (30) thirty days

** The tenant will notify **my name** promptly if any part of the property is damaged or destroyed the tenant is responsible for any damage or destruction done to the property by his actions or negligence, or by the actions or negligence of his family or guests The tenant must make all repairs and replacements to fix such damage or destruction If the tenant fails to do so, gail may do it and add the expense to the next month’s rent

Part of "Tenant responsibilities are:
** Use all utilities, facilities and fixtures in a safe and reasonable way

** Not deliberately or negligently destroy, deface, damage, or remove any part of the property or grounds

** Promptly notify **my name** of conditions that need repair

****************************************************

I know this was an accident -- and definitely not intentional, but she did not tell me about this, I had to "find" this out myself while she was "looking" in the tank of the toilet as I passed by and asked me if I had a snake.

 

[justalayman]

The damage you speak of sound like a LOT of water overflowed. Given a new style toilet uses only 1.6 gallons per flush, it sounds like she flushed it multiple times. A couple gallons is not likely to leak beyond the ceiling below let alone cause there to be a need for all the efforts you have put into play here. If nothing else, I would use the argument that regardless of whether she did anything that actually caused the clog, her continued flushing of the toilet is what actually caused the damage.

many toilets will not even overflow if they are not flushed repeatedly. The 1.6 gallons generally does not overflow the bowl in most toilets. If it does, it is generally quite minimal. That would mean she acted , at least, negligently in flushing the toilet repeatedly and she in fact caused most, if not all, of the water to overflow the bowl.

I know this was an accident -- and definitely not intentional,

it doesn't really matter. A person is liable for their negligence as well.

but in the bigger picture, while she may not have intended on causing the water damage, she did intentionally repeatedly flush the thing which is why there was so much water all over the place. So, it isn't even negligence on her part but the deliberate act of repeatedly flushing the toilet that caused the damage.

While you can likely claim the deposit to cover some of the damages, why? If she is going to continue to live there you surely wouldn't want to continue with no deposit in place to cover other damages that may come about. I would charge her now for for the costs. You mention your insurance is dealing with this and the deposit covered part of the deductible; does your insurance company know you rent out a room? If so and you have proper coverage they may seek to recover their expenditure from her.