Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with water and landlord

I don't want to bleach the state land, thanks.

Nattie — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 17:46:17 -0800

We recently moved to a new house and our washing machine hook-up does not drain properly. Instead of fixing it, our landlord keeps being pushy about how we should just drain it into the state land behind the house. We're in La Crescenta, CA. My husband and I have told our landlord multiple times now that draining onto the state land is unacceptable to us, but when we do this, the landlord gives us some vague platitude about fixing the drain sometime in the future, which has yet to materialize. He's had about a month to do this, and we've been in contact with him every four days or so, so we've heard this "sometime soon" excuse many times now and never thought it would go on this long.

This is getting ridiculous, and I am irritated that we were told the house had working washer and dryer hook-ups when it essentially doesn't and the landlord has had a month to fix this and hasn't.

We have gotten more forceful and unsympathetic when he gives us the vague reply, so we don't need help asserting ourselves. What I do want is some concrete information about the following so we can tell him very clearly what the laws are. I'm not sure he actually does know what the laws are, so that would be important -- we had to buy our own carbon monoxide detector even though the law says the landlord has to provide one -- but there's also the possibility that he does know the laws and hopes we don't.

1. What is the law in California about draining washer machine water onto state land? I would guess this is illegal, and we don't want to do it regardless, but if it were illegal it would be an easier conversation. And if he continues to insist we do something illegal, it might make it easier to break our lease if necessary.

2. What recourse do we have for being told that there are working washer and dryer hook-ups when the washer hook-up doesn't work? What rights do tenants have when a landlord lies (whether he considers it a lie or not) about these things? I am considering asking for money off our rent for the month (months? ugh) we're unable to do laundry but if this doesn't get fixed I don't want to pay the price we're paying to live here. We specifically wanted a place where we could use our washer and dryer and if I had known we couldn't, I wouldn't have even looked at this place.

I don't think our landlord is intentionally being sleazy, he's just very old, losing his memory and health, and it seems to make him flaky and unable to manage his properties effectively. We're sympathetic to him as a person and don't think he's a bad guy, but he definitely does not seem to have accepted that he can't do things he used to do by himself. He will talk about his failing health so he's aware, sort of, but does not actually hire people to fix the problems and keeps trying to do stuff he says he used to do. It's also frankly starting to feel manipulative and unprofessional when we ask him to fix something and get a sob story instead of action. It doesn't seem reasonable for him to expect us to just go without laundry for months because he can't manage his properties anymore, but this is going to be a very awkward conversation and I don't want to get into anything contentious so early into the relationship with this guy. He's very nice, he just doesn't do his job and wants us to take shortcuts that we feel are absurd. If we could keep the conversation purely on "this is the law, comply with the law or we will take these legal actions" at least we'll get a resolution (either it's fixed, or we leave) and not a deflection.

Thanks for any information!

Water shut off due to non-payment by landlord. What are my rights?

slavlin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:18:28 -0800

My landlord pays the water bill for my apartment complex. Today the water was shut off in the middle of the day. When I called the water company, they said that the complex was shut off due to non-payment. Are there any legal requirements about notice or use of rental fees by the property management? I live in Tennessee. I have been living in this complex for about 9 years. Though it has had it's problems, it is spacious and fairly cheap, plus I hate moving. I do pay an additional fee for water (along with rent).

Also, I checked the Better Business Bureau and there is only one complaint on file and there was no response.

Finally, the property management is Starwood Property Management (Lease says Starwood Management LLC.) There is no address on the lease other than our complex. The management company is based out of New York, but the managers here have been told they are not allowed to give me the phone number for the main property office. Would they be required to do that, since they technically do have an office here that I can go to?

My landlord's a jerk, but how big of a jerk?

Beardman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:32:29 -0800

Does my landlord have to give me advance notice if he's going to shut down the building's water for a few hours? This is in Ontario. This morning at 9:00 AM, some plumbers turned off the building's water. It wasn't an emergency, it was a repair that they had been scheduled to make. They told me the landlord was going to tell us. The first we heard of it was when the plumber knocked on the door and said "We're shutting it off now."

Obviously it's rude not to inform your tenants, and the landlord knows this too--he usually lets us know. However, I want to know how much notice he is actually obligated to give us, according to the Residential Tenancies Act, in which water is considered a vital service. I asked on Yahoo Answers, and someone replied that the RTC doesn't apply. Is that true? Is my landlord really not obligated to tell me when he turns off my water supply in a non-emergency situation? I would have assumed 12 or 24 hours was required! I want to know so that I can specify how much notice I want in the future.

Proper/reasonable way to deal with water damage in an apartment

sirion — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:29:58 -0800

Water Damage: The apartment I'm moving into has significant water damage from last May, and the landlord has promised to fix it. What should I know about water damage repairs to make sure my health isn't going to be risked from shoddy repairs? This apartment is in Austria, if that's important to know. The previous tenant tells me some sort of water line broke in the apartment, which led to water damage: one 5 ft^2 area of linoleum and hardwood floor is a bit warped, and the bathroom, closet and water-closet rooms all have some walls with water damage (from the floor up about 3-4 feet, looks a bit yellowed, like on this ceiling from some random picture off of google images [the pale yellowing closer to the camera]:)

So my questions are:
-Given the description, how likely is it that there is some sort of horrible deadly mold that will kill me or hurt my lungs, living in my apartment?

-What is the 100% proper way of dealing with water damage?

-What is the less than 100% proper, but still just fine way of dealing with water damage? For example, if simply cleaning and painting the walls with good paint/sealant will provide good protection from mold, then that would fit in this category.

-What is the wrong way to deal with water damage, that is clearly a cost-cutting maneouver on the part of my landlord, and should not be tolerated? (And one may have legal grounds to force the issue)

-Basically, how much of a stink do I make about this? What's a reasonable request of one's landlord, particularly when I'd like to establish a good landlord-tenant relationship? (I might be wanting to sublet my apartment at various times, which is technically a lease violation, and would benefit from a good relationship with my landlord) I'd also like to be able to live in my apartment without 3 months of construction going on inside of it.

-I've been contacted by the repair firm, which is Fischer Franz, Maler und Anstreicher (http://www.fischer-maler.at/index.htm). Seems like these guys are for the most part painter/wallpaper guys. Is this the sort of company that might be qualified to deal with water damage repairs?

What am I owed since my landlord shut off the water?

dripdripdrop — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 08:23:49 -0800

NoWaterFilter: My landlord had to shut down the water on Saturday and only gave me a couple of hours warning. It's Monday and it's still not on. I'm in Ontario and I'm wondering what my rights are in this situation. I'm not looking to sue or anything like that, but I was talking with coworkers today who said that my landlord had to pay for a hotel room. While I'd prefer to stay at home anyway (I have a water tower and can shower at work), I am eating out rather than making my own food and I'm using a lot of bottled water for things like the toilet which all costs money.

I found this section of the Ontario Tenant Protection Act, but it doesn't really speak to remedies or how long things are allowed to go on. It looks like the water may be back on tonight or tomorrow, should my landlord be responsible for my additional costs? (this was due to a leak in the basement apartment)

Raining in the apartment

lpctstr; — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 18:25:43 -0800

The apartment upstairs had a water leak (so they say) yesterday in the middle of the night, and by the time I got up and noticed it, there was about a foot of water over everything in the kitchen and living room. We called the landlord company and they sucked out most of the water. Who's responsible for damages for damaged electronics (laptop), food, and other problems (bumpy tiled kitchen floor or stained carpets)? We rent.

Reconciling myself with wasting water?

skryche — Mon, 02 May 2005 10:32:09 -0800

One of the few repairs that needs to be performed on our next apartment is a leaky bathtub faucet. Not mere drips: a constant steady stream of water is wasted. If they are unwilling to fix this leak, would I be silly not to take this otherwise perfect apartment? How guilty should I feel about so much water wastage? No, I won't have to pay the water bill. And the reason they might not be willing to make the repair is that they would have to turn the water off to the entire building, including to the four star restaurant on the ground floor.