Landlord Refuses To Fix A Leak, Gets A $8,000 Bill To Repair The Damage That The Water Did To Other Apartments
Usually people want to have their own home, but many of them have to rent as they can’t afford to buy property. While surely there are things that are very annoying and stressful that homeowners have to deal with, it is still not as bad as dealing with landlords.
Landlords are known to be cheap and not care about their tenants, such as CatheterZetaJones, a redditor that had to live with a leaking bathtub faucet that her landlord didn’t want to fix. But the story has a rewarding ending because the homeowner was taught a lesson that people who buy cheap buy twice.
More info: Reddit
A tenant got her revenge of seeing her landlord furious for ignoring her complaint about a leaking faucet
Image credits: osseous (not the actual photo)
The story was posted on a subreddit called Regular Revenge, where it’s not that much of an elaborate revenge scheme, but not too petty either, so just a regular one. The story may contain instant karma instead of a planned revenge story. The subreddit was created at the end of 2015 and has amassed over 50k members.
The story posted by CatheterZetaJones is the one with the most upvotes and has quite a significant difference from the second one, so it is a story worth reading.
The Original Poster (OP) begins with saying that her landlord isn’t malicious, but is not the brightest crayon in the box and is lazy. The landlord is the owner of a suite in a condo tower where each unit is individually owned.
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
After contacting him a few times, he finally answered her text and refused to fix the leaking bathtub faucet that had progressed into a stream
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
According to the American Apartment Owners Association, one of the most common complaints received from tenants are repair problems and the OP had the same exact complaint. She noticed that her bathtub faucet was leaking. Like any responsible tenant, she contacted her landlord to report the issue.
The landlord ignored the email, so when the leak started to get bigger, CatheterZetaJones emailed her landlord again. She suggested that she could call someone herself and save the landlord some hassle and he wouldn’t need to do anything, just to expect a smaller amount when she paid the rent.
Somehow the landlord still ignored the complaint, and it was important for the OP to get an answer in writing, especially about the part of being reimbursed the cost of the repair, but the OP had to send a text message because the leak had turned into a stream of hot water.
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
The tenant wasn’t planning on doing something either
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
She finally got an answer, but he wasn’t planning on checking how serious the problem was nor taking care of it. The OP felt she had done everything she could and the leak getting worse was not her responsibility.
After two weeks, CatheterZetaJones got a call from the condo board asking for her permission to get into her apartment as there was a leak coming from her suite and it was damaging several areas one floor below.
Obviously, the OP gave permission and a plumber came to her house to fix the leak. The condo board also called various other people to come and fix the damage the water had done in other suites.
But then the condo board called asking if they could enter her suite because there was a leak that was damaging the rooms on the floor below
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
The bill for all the repairs went to the OP’s landlord who was furious he needed to pay $8,000 but was shown it was his own mistake
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
But the satisfying part is that this whole bill of $8,000 that the condo board received for the repairs was for the landlord to pay. He finally contacted CatheterZetaJones but was in a tantrum asking why he had such a big amount to pay.
Triumphant, the OP forwarded him the emails in which he told her that he wouldn’t be fixing the leak. After that, the landlord didn’t have anything to say.
According to Rentec Direct, a property management software based in the US, tenants have the responsibility of reporting any issues that occur on the property and the owner’s responsibility is to react to those reports and to fix the issues as soon as possible. If the issue affects the health or safety of the tenant, they may be within their rights to not pay for rent until the issue is fixed.
Image credits: u/CatheterZetaJones
Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for CatheterZetaJones to get her leak fixed, but it undoubtedly caused quite some stress. People in the comments thought that this incident taught the landlord a lesson and were glad that the OP had a happy ending.
What were your thoughts after reading this story? Do you have any similar experiences with landlords not executing their responsibilities? Share them with us in the comments!
Other redditors though that the landlord received what was coming for him and others shared their own experiences
Know of a case where LL was tighter than a ducks a**e and wouldn't get anything fixed properly. There were problems with the pipes. He was being awkward as usual. Tenant went away for 2 days, came back and the house was destroyed. The pipes had froze, ruptured, thawed, ceiling collapsed and the place was flooded. She just grabbed her belongings and noped out. Landlord was left seriously out of pocket for that. The place was pretty much gutted and had to be rebuilt. Only has himself to blame.
I don't know how to feel about this. In my tenancy agreement (UK), it says I'll do minor work. I've repaired many leaking taps to stop bigger issues.
But if it's a job needs a professional, like a plumber, and the problem is not your fault, the landlord must take care of his own property. Btw, I upvoted you because you may be right, depending on the circumstances. (U.K. too).
Load More Replies...
the most common move landlords make to trick a tenant into breaking a lease.
If the valve was leaking in to the tub it went down the drain this is two different problems
I lived in an apartment in a city which shall be nameless for now. In a building which was owned by such a landlord as described above. There were many things that actually needed an honest and energetic landlord's attention which some admittedly if they did not require to big of an expense he would repair, fix, and resolve for me when I gave him enough notification and proper notification. Eventually, the sloping of the original foundation on this 1920's apartment became so severe. I actually considered reporting it to the city. I reported it to the Landlord. He assured me that the city had inspected it and gave it their approval. However, the declining foundation became so bad I could not open the front door because it would stick shut. When visitors observed this they would tell me that my Landlord must have financially bribed the city investigators to approve the current condition of the foundation when I asked for an investigation. I moved out. Very sad!!
I lived in a Duplex where a tree fell over that was planted right next to the house. It damaged the roof, the siding and pulled up some of the plumbing. The window jams were also damaged. The landlord hired a drunk to do the repairs, and as you might have guessed, the repairman did a Shawty job. The window seals rotted out within month of the so called repair. The roof was not fixed at all. I live in Texas and it gets very hot in the summer. The air conditioner fell out of the window because the rotted wood was not removed. I was recently diagnosed with MS and I was having major trouble with moving my legs and feet. I had no help so I couldn't move out. I started pitching a tent in the front yard just so I could get some sleep at night. I had to leave my dogs outside in the yard, (they both had dog houses) it was too hot inside the house for them. Eventually the roof caved in, in both bedrooms. I was catching rain in tubs all over my bed. The landlord sold the house & didnt notify me.
I live in NYC and had a similar incidence except that the landlord would eventually paid t over the leaks which were monthly. I got sick with mold poisoning, list almost everything I own, the landlord tried using me in NYC housing court.and lost, the building was proven to have mild throughout all of the floors and I am still trying to find representation as I still struggle from the 10 month lease that almost cost my entire life and set me back 20-years.
I'll never understand why people own/rent property and never fix/update structure/land?! Why own it if you're just gonna let it go to pot? That makes no sense to me!?!!
Because capitalism. They treat property as their own personal ATM. Money out good. Money in bad. Also they don't usually own the property outright. It's mortgaged, so once expenses (mortgage, insurance, taxes, HOA fees, and more) it leaves not much more than a hundred to two hundred dollars left over. So naturally they want to keep what little they extract out. The big prize is holding the property for several years until the value increases, then dump it, hopefully before major and expensive repairs are needed.
Load More Replies...
In the mid-1980's, I had landlord who was a slumlord. I lived in a duplex, the old kind that shares a plumbing line with the other side of the duplex. The people who rented the other side were horrible people. Thanksgiving one year we came home to a sewer back up in our bathtub. I pounded on their door and they wouldn't answer. But they kept flushing their toilet which caused more backup. I called landlord and she said she wouldn't allow us to call until the next day, so the rates would be cheaper!!! We decided to pay a plumber. The problem was fixed and I sent the bill to landlord. Again she wouldn't pay it. After two months of back and forth, I paid the rent but left out the plumbing cost from it. I included a letter explaining. She balked at first but I also had a contractor friend send her a letter to her outlining what it would've cost if sewage would have overflowed the tub (which would have happened that night.) Never heard back.
Horrible neighbors were evicted a couple mos later (for a myriad of reasons.)
Load More Replies...
Landlord and owner are lucky no structure damage or mold started due to a s**t bag landlord. The fee would've been much more. Why do people think they don't need to do their jobs. A small fix could've saved thousands. Hopefully idiot landlord learned some lesson..but I doubt it. Once a slum lord. Always a slum lord
What about all the renters that the place is so dirty and unkempt that they never notify the landlords? Goes both ways.
Yeah, I had this happen to me when I rented. All it did was resulted in a notice of intent to sell and move out in 30 days!
Where I live there's a clause in the contract that says any work up to a certain amount of money is the responsibility of the tenant. It's something like 50 euro though, so that probably would only cover the call-out charge anyway. Regardless, there should have been more discussion I think.
UK and US have super different rules about this stuff based on the way they both look at how common law is applied
Load More Replies...
I'm not sure I understand this. A leaking sink/tub or running toilet would all go into drains. A feed line under the sink or behind the commode would have a valve between his responsibility (valve-sink/valve-commode, main-water tank) A tentant has the responsibility to turn off the valves, and in make reasonable arrangements to use bottled water and if necessary, alternate accomadations at the landlords expense. Lazy prick or too busy/cheap etc, doesn't change her complicity in the damage. I'm just not buying it. I think it's fabricated like so very many REDDIT sob stories.
Not use the toilet? Don't assume what a tenant knows. I know nothing about building maintenance which is why I rent. Property management ignores most maintenance work order requests.
Load More Replies...
I really would like to see how bad leak actually was. I'd hate to think it was a simple fix and tennant was just trying to prove a point, in turn f*****g up neighbors apt.
So you think the tenant could see what was happening under the bathtub? Maintenance was sent to my apartment because there was apparently a leak coming in the under my toilet. I hadn't seen any evidence of a leak. There was no water on the floor around the toilet. The contractor had to remove my toilet to make the repair. He had to replace floor tiles and put down plaster and grout. It had to dry overnight before he could replace the toilet. Fortunately we have 2 bathrooms
Load More Replies... Let's see an article articulating how the tenants suck. A little bit of equal billing...
This is about deadbeat landlords and tenants in unsafe housing. You want to talk about tenants then write your own article.
Load More Replies... Know of a case where LL was tighter than a ducks a**e and wouldn't get anything fixed properly. There were problems with the pipes. He was being awkward as usual. Tenant went away for 2 days, came back and the house was destroyed. The pipes had froze, ruptured, thawed, ceiling collapsed and the place was flooded. She just grabbed her belongings and noped out. Landlord was left seriously out of pocket for that. The place was pretty much gutted and had to be rebuilt. Only has himself to blame.
I don't know how to feel about this. In my tenancy agreement (UK), it says I'll do minor work. I've repaired many leaking taps to stop bigger issues.
But if it's a job needs a professional, like a plumber, and the problem is not your fault, the landlord must take care of his own property. Btw, I upvoted you because you may be right, depending on the circumstances. (U.K. too).
Load More Replies... the most common move landlords make to trick a tenant into breaking a lease.
If the valve was leaking in to the tub it went down the drain this is two different problems
I lived in an apartment in a city which shall be nameless for now. In a building which was owned by such a landlord as described above. There were many things that actually needed an honest and energetic landlord's attention which some admittedly if they did not require to big of an expense he would repair, fix, and resolve for me when I gave him enough notification and proper notification. Eventually, the sloping of the original foundation on this 1920's apartment became so severe. I actually considered reporting it to the city. I reported it to the Landlord. He assured me that the city had inspected it and gave it their approval. However, the declining foundation became so bad I could not open the front door because it would stick shut. When visitors observed this they would tell me that my Landlord must have financially bribed the city investigators to approve the current condition of the foundation when I asked for an investigation. I moved out. Very sad!!
I lived in a Duplex where a tree fell over that was planted right next to the house. It damaged the roof, the siding and pulled up some of the plumbing. The window jams were also damaged. The landlord hired a drunk to do the repairs, and as you might have guessed, the repairman did a Shawty job. The window seals rotted out within month of the so called repair. The roof was not fixed at all. I live in Texas and it gets very hot in the summer. The air conditioner fell out of the window because the rotted wood was not removed. I was recently diagnosed with MS and I was having major trouble with moving my legs and feet. I had no help so I couldn't move out. I started pitching a tent in the front yard just so I could get some sleep at night. I had to leave my dogs outside in the yard, (they both had dog houses) it was too hot inside the house for them. Eventually the roof caved in, in both bedrooms. I was catching rain in tubs all over my bed. The landlord sold the house & didnt notify me.
I live in NYC and had a similar incidence except that the landlord would eventually paid t over the leaks which were monthly. I got sick with mold poisoning, list almost everything I own, the landlord tried using me in NYC housing court.and lost, the building was proven to have mild throughout all of the floors and I am still trying to find representation as I still struggle from the 10 month lease that almost cost my entire life and set me back 20-years.
I'll never understand why people own/rent property and never fix/update structure/land?! Why own it if you're just gonna let it go to pot? That makes no sense to me!?!!
Because capitalism. They treat property as their own personal ATM. Money out good. Money in bad. Also they don't usually own the property outright. It's mortgaged, so once expenses (mortgage, insurance, taxes, HOA fees, and more) it leaves not much more than a hundred to two hundred dollars left over. So naturally they want to keep what little they extract out. The big prize is holding the property for several years until the value increases, then dump it, hopefully before major and expensive repairs are needed.
Load More Replies... In the mid-1980's, I had landlord who was a slumlord. I lived in a duplex, the old kind that shares a plumbing line with the other side of the duplex. The people who rented the other side were horrible people. Thanksgiving one year we came home to a sewer back up in our bathtub. I pounded on their door and they wouldn't answer. But they kept flushing their toilet which caused more backup. I called landlord and she said she wouldn't allow us to call until the next day, so the rates would be cheaper!!! We decided to pay a plumber. The problem was fixed and I sent the bill to landlord. Again she wouldn't pay it. After two months of back and forth, I paid the rent but left out the plumbing cost from it. I included a letter explaining. She balked at first but I also had a contractor friend send her a letter to her outlining what it would've cost if sewage would have overflowed the tub (which would have happened that night.) Never heard back.
Horrible neighbors were evicted a couple mos later (for a myriad of reasons.)
Load More Replies... Landlord and owner are lucky no structure damage or mold started due to a s**t bag landlord. The fee would've been much more. Why do people think they don't need to do their jobs. A small fix could've saved thousands. Hopefully idiot landlord learned some lesson..but I doubt it. Once a slum lord. Always a slum lord
What about all the renters that the place is so dirty and unkempt that they never notify the landlords? Goes both ways.
Yeah, I had this happen to me when I rented. All it did was resulted in a notice of intent to sell and move out in 30 days!
Where I live there's a clause in the contract that says any work up to a certain amount of money is the responsibility of the tenant. It's something like 50 euro though, so that probably would only cover the call-out charge anyway. Regardless, there should have been more discussion I think.
UK and US have super different rules about this stuff based on the way they both look at how common law is applied
Load More Replies... I'm not sure I understand this. A leaking sink/tub or running toilet would all go into drains. A feed line under the sink or behind the commode would have a valve between his responsibility (valve-sink/valve-commode, main-water tank) A tentant has the responsibility to turn off the valves, and in make reasonable arrangements to use bottled water and if necessary, alternate accomadations at the landlords expense. Lazy prick or too busy/cheap etc, doesn't change her complicity in the damage. I'm just not buying it. I think it's fabricated like so very many REDDIT sob stories.
Not use the toilet? Don't assume what a tenant knows. I know nothing about building maintenance which is why I rent. Property management ignores most maintenance work order requests.
Load More Replies... I really would like to see how bad leak actually was. I'd hate to think it was a simple fix and tennant was just trying to prove a point, in turn f*****g up neighbors apt.
So you think the tenant could see what was happening under the bathtub? Maintenance was sent to my apartment because there was apparently a leak coming in the under my toilet. I hadn't seen any evidence of a leak. There was no water on the floor around the toilet. The contractor had to remove my toilet to make the repair. He had to replace floor tiles and put down plaster and grout. It had to dry overnight before he could replace the toilet. Fortunately we have 2 bathrooms
Load More Replies... Let's see an article articulating how the tenants suck. A little bit of equal billing...
This is about deadbeat landlords and tenants in unsafe housing. You want to talk about tenants then write your own article.
Load More Replies...
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