Who Is Responsible For Clogged Drains?
Is the owner or the tenant responsible? The drains were not clogged when the house was rented out so I would think it is automatically the tenants fault. Can I charge the tenant to fix the drains?
Clogs happen. The landlord is always responsible for repairs. You never want to delegate responsibility for repairs to your tenant because you lose control over the quality of the work, if the work is ever done.
The landlord can always hold the tenant liable for the cost of the repair, but you first need to snake the drain and remove the clog to see if it is a direct result of tenant abuse.
I have someone that know and trust handle clogged drains, but unless it is caused by a tree root in the line or something similar, the tenant will be billed. Most of the time food is found to be the cause so there is no doubt that the tenant is responsible.
my leases say that the unit is provided with clear drain lines, if the drain becomes clogged between the main sewer line and somewhere in the unit, the tenant is responsible, but if it is something in the main sewer line i take responsibility.
i make it a point when tenants move in to walk them through and test every drain and toilet in the house/apartment with them. I then tell them that any clogged drains they have to pay for it and have them sigh to it. Every time I was called for clogged drains WAS the tenants abuse and they pay for it with out a problem. There is a possibility that roots could plug the main and in that case it is your responsibility. The drains were obviously working fine when they moved in right? so charge them for it without a question,just give them the bill.
there is no way you should make the tenants pay , as i stated before if you make them pay you will never know NEXT time there is a problem because they wont tell YOU! if they know that you will charge them every time something breaks, leaks or whatever you wont receive a call or they will try to fix it themselves. what works for me without a problem is i happily fix whatever problem comes up and thank them for notifing me immediatly. the little time it takes to make very minor repairs is nothing compared to the ultimate damage a neglected problem can cost you. i was just wondering, how much do you charge the for lets say a hair clog in the bath drain. do you give them a receipt and do you include that income on your income taxes? there must be a course on landlording that is now being taught in schools somewhere on the art of being a greedy bastard.
tmesa you need to brush up on your social skills. one thing is to have an opinion on a subject matter but there is no reason you should be calling anyone a greedy bastard.. besides who are you to say why and what i charge for a clogged line. if the tenant doesnt agree with how i conduct my business, then they dont have to rent from me. As a landlord i make sure my units are in tip top shape and i do routine inspections of my rented properties to make sure everything is functioning well and do preventive repairs. its like taking care your body. you go to the doctor, you eat right and exercise. you dont expect someone else to tell you what might happen if you dont take care of yourself.
My building is a top-bottom duplex. Common main sewer line was clogged by tenants tampons (both top and bottom tenants are girls) and major backup resulted in flooding the bottom unit w. several inches of sewage. But I do not know whether it was the top unit or the bottom unit tenants that put tampons in the drain. Damage was complete tear-out of bottom unit floors, some walls--about $15,000 for my insurance co., plus my own $2,500 deductible. May I split the costs and bill both sets of tenants? Or am I out the money b/c I cannot tell which set of tenants caused the backup?
I always pay for the first time, then if it happeneds again, I will have them pay, or remove it from the security deposit when they leave.
Our lease states that the tenant agrees to pay for any clogged drain caused by misuse. We take care of having it cleared so we have a "diagnosis" and then bill the tenant. Tree roots and actual piping problems are our responsibility. Had a bird build a nest in the vent stack on one unit - That was fun to figure out! (we paid).