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NBR: Water bill again
So I'm back with my water issue. A plumber came and confirmed that all three toilets have leaks and that is why our sewage bill has been so excessive. I know the COA has higher sewage costs than water costs, but our water bill total has been at minimum $200 per month.
So we caught this problem and our landlord said he'll come fix it on Sunday. But that's it. He said he is not responsible for the past few months of overage of the water bill because he only just found out about it and he's fixing it in a reasonable amount of time.
To which I say, if we had gotten a water bill from the time we moved in, we could have caught it sooner. But since we have been fighting with the management compnay 1) to get a water bill and then to get a breakdown of costs, its not like we had any idea that it was a problem prior and kept it from him.
What do you think? Is he liable for the leakage? I have no idea what GA law says.
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Re: NBR: Water bill again
I don't think he is liable, but if it were me, I would still try and fight him on claiming you have informed him of excessive water bills since you moved in. Did you bring the plumber out or did he take the initiative to do this? If he ignored you, you could threaten to take him to small claims court or you could say that you will be taking $$ of the rent to cover the expenses of the excessive water bill just to see how he acts.
As a landlord myself, if we have a really good tenant that pays on time, we usually bend over backwards to please them because it's hard to find good honest tenants these days.
Put some fear into him about losing you as a tenant.
This. Tell him you will be deducting excessive charges and your costs to repair the house from your rent. It sounds reasonable that he should be liable as the home owner for the leaks. We just had a water main leak and the county told my husband they would adjust the bill to our usual usage if we could prove that we made repairs. The house was NOT well-maintained and it was NOT repaired in a timely manner. If he threatens to evict you then just move out. He is the one who breached the contract. Then file in small claims for your deposit.
My husband is constantly maintaining the properties we have and unless a repair is the fault of the home owner (ie their pet chewed through the AC lines, etc) then he pays the cost of the repairs.
Not sure how it works here... but in my old career I took people to court in Bermuda for non payment of rent (and other stuff) and my mom was assistant to the Judges in civil court. (Great pair we made). Anyway, a tenant could not withhold rents no matter what the reason including repairs that were needed. The landlord could still evict them and the landlord could still win in court and get any monies owed.
Proper procedure was for the tenant to take the landlord court and have the Judge order a non payment of rent until the repairs are made. Or have the tenant get the repairs made and deduct cost from rents. Either way it had to be court ordered.
I would just double checks your rights with a lawyer in this situation.
this wife bakes.
One of my favorite cakes ever! I had a blast making this..all handmade with buttercream suds!!!!
DD- 9
DS-6
c/p- April 2016
missed m/c- 6w5d; discovered 8w2d- September 2016
Yeah, for the record, we pay our rent on time every month. It was his job to change the water bill to our name. I asked him when we moved in if I had to change anything and he said he would take care of it all. He emailed the management company (he has a record) and they did not do it (they say they did and the water co. dropped the ball, but they cannot provide proof that they did it)
Anyhow, so we get a 5+ month water bill and at first we were like, "wow this sucks" but in looking at it, it seemed WAAY too high. So we mentioned to the landlord that there must be a leak and he sent a plumber. But he would not let the plumber do an assesment to find out how much water we are losing per day. He plans to fix the toilets himself and we are responsible for the water bill, because its in our name.
Now, I agree, it should be our responsibility and if we had paid it every month and then said, "BTW, we think we've been paying too much, pay us back" then forget it. But it was our first bill that alerted us to a problem.
He has not taken good care of this place, and by extension, us. There was a 1.5 day lag between tennants in which he promised to paint, have it cleaned and have the carpets cleaned. The paint is ridiculous. Like they just paint splotches over bad areas. It looks so bad. The carpets are gross and need to be replaced. I will admit to being a bit of a clean freak, but come on, this is bad. And the day we did our final walk through I freaked out over how unclean the place was. When I challenged him as to whether or not a cleaning service had actually come, he said the previous tenant took care of it. And he took them on their word?? He told me I could hire a cleaning person and deduct $60 from my first months rent. SIXTY dollars! That is not a move in clean. That is a "I'll come dust, vacuum and clean your bathrooms" clean. This place was filthy. I hired someone for $180 and wasn't able to bill it to him because he told me I could spend $60.
So no, he has not taken care of us. I am counting down the days to then end of our lease.
Not sure how much longer you have on your lease (aren't you moving to Decatur anyways?
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Do you have a penalty for breaking your lease? In GA, tenants can break their lease with either 30 or 60 day notice (I forget which)..the tenant is responsible for any fees associated with this. This guy sounds like a total jackass...if there are no fees in the lease, meaning you could walk away, You could threaten to leave in 60 days, and not be very accomodating when he wants to show the place.
also, keep copies of any written communication that you have with the landlord.
Our LL in FL was a jackass too and I saved everything just in case he refused to give us our security deposit back--which he tried to do. Once I threatened small claims court, he complied.