who pays water bill > broken pipes

[jackie hales]

We have been renting the house where we reside in California for the past 3 years. We have no lease, never have, just a verbal agreement that it is on a month to month basis. A few months ago we had a water leak on the property and had it fixed, (at our expense). The water bill, in excess of our usual monthly fee of around $200.00 - 400.00 is in excess of $10,000.00. We have lived in the house since 1986 and have never used water at even 10% of this rate. The water company have turned the water off, due to non payment of these charges, refusing to consider an installment plan. We have always paid the monthly water bill as it was presumed by us to be our responsibility. The landlord has been notified, states he does not have insurance that will cover the bill and expects us to pay the bill. The pipes that broke were approximatly eight feet underground and had been installed approximatly twenty two years ago during the original construction of the property by the builder. The break was due to either regular wear and tear or some slight earth movement. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[HomeGuru]

Hire an attorney to sue as the bill is not your liability.

 

[djdj]

NUMBER ONE... I have NEVER heard of anyone paying $200 a month for water, what do you have 15 rooms, 16 kids, big swimming pool, with a fountian?

so there must have been a leak since the day you moved in..
water/sewer should not be over $30-50 a month

So find a L/T lawyer tomorrow and see what you can do to get the water turned back on,

NEXT TIME YOU WILL NEVER RENT A PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE WATER!

AND NEVER PAY FOR REPAIRS.....HE'S A TRAILER TRASH LANDLORD

Or else ya gotta, move and let the landlord deal with it.