Water leak to my neighbor's apartment?

Question

My neighbors found a water leak coming from the ceiling. She called a plumber which told her that the source of the leak comes from my apartment. 2 hours later I called the same plumber to fix the leak, of course I paid for the service. Apparently the same plumber asked money from my neighbor for the diagnostic. Now my neighbors is asking me to pay that bill. Should I pay?

Answer 1

If you are the landlord, it is your responsibility to pay for structural repairs.

If you are in an apartment complex, it is up to the management company to see that the bill gets paid... in fact, take both bills, or rather... tell your neighbor to take theirs to the management also, like you are doing. Having your neighbor take it to the management keeps them in the loop. The management may want to give you a little flack over not calling them first, but stick to your guns.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Hard question as it's a grey area.

I'd not think you should "have" to pay because she called the plumber in the first place. If it had been me, I'd have assumed that the leak would be coming from the flat above and talked with you before I did anything, and then we'd have gone to the super as it's his problem to deal with and to fix if it's a rental property.

I'd send both bills to the landlord/super/owner and have them re-imbirse you both. Unless it's in your rental agreement that repairs are your responsibility.

If you're a nice person, you can offer to pay half the bill for the initial inspection. If you're an extremely nice person, you can pay the whole thing.

Answer 3

If this is an apartment complex, then there should be building maintenance that should fix and cover the costs.

If it is something you own, then the right thing to do would be to cover the cost since it was coming from your place.