Can a landlord charge the renter for a plumber's repairs to fix a leaky sink?

Question

My son rents an old house with 2 other roommates. Yesterday they received a bill from the landlord for $100.00 to repair a leak under the kitchen sink. Who is reponsible for that repair?

They are current on their rent.

Plumbing is very old. House looks like it is about to fall down. Cheap rent for a ragged house. Floor in upstairs room feels like it is going to fall through. Company has 1000's of apartments and houses in town and these particular houses are having no repairs to the outside. I believe they are just waiting for them to fall down. They are across from our College and rumor is they are going to make parking out of this area.

Answer 1

First he needs to read the lease and see if there's anything in there that pertains to being responsible for repairs being made. The Landlord is responsible for maintaining the house in good condition which includes the heating, a/c, plumbing and electrical in good working order. If the damage to any of the above was caused by your son and his roommates then yes they are legally responsible for the cost of repairs, however, if this is due to normal wear and tear and age then NO they are not responsible for paying for the repairs.

Make sure they didn't sign a lease that states they are responsible for the first $100 of any repair made in the house, it prevents the LL from being nickled and dimed to death by renters.

Answer 2

Usually landlord pays for such repairs, unless the leak was caused by negligence or deliberate actions of tenants.
Of course, there could be something in the lease stating that all repairs are responsibility of tenants (this is very unusual, but I've seen a lot of "unusual" things in leases.)
Read the lease and if there's nothing there about tenants being responsible for repairs, demand an explanation from the landlord.

Answer 3

He'll have to look at his lease and see if repairs are covered by the landlord or not. It most likely is the tenants responsibility to pay for the repairs since they are renting a house, but read the lease to be sure. If they know they did not cause any damange to the sink then they may try and reason with the landlord since they weren't responsible for the damages.
If he has misplaced his copy of the lease, ask the landlord for another one.

Answer 4

This actually depends on where you live. Every State and even Counties have differing Landlord Laws. Be prepared to answer these questions. Are you under contract or month to month. Does the Landlord hold a Hotel Motel License on that property Is the Apartment "furnished" by the landlord or is it your own. (if is your furniture - did you bring them?) A pest control company can give you a timeframe as to how long the bugs have been there depending on the infestation. If you own you furniture did it get infested by the building and was the LL aware of the infestation before you moved in? Depending on these answers will have a influence on the outcome of what you are asking. PS: I live in South Florida and Termites are very common here. many people don't realize that there are sub-terranian termites and the other wood borrowing termites the later live in pine trees and swarm to the nearist vulnerable wood structure. Keeping your house in good condition regular painting is a good barrier to keeping these pests at bay.

Answer 5

Read the lease, and find out about local laws.
I'd think the landlord could do that if the tenants are behind on the rent, or if they caused the leak, or if it says in the lease that the tenants are responsible for certain repairs.

Answer 6

Unless the landlord can prove that the leak was the tenants fault, no legally the tenants are not responsible for paying for repairs. My guess is the landlord is billing them on the off chance they will actually pay it. I am also guessing that the landlord cannot prove that the leak was caused by the tenants (was it?) if the rest of the place is in such disrepair. So let him go ahead and bill it, but if he wants renumeration from the tenants, he will have to take them to court and prove it to the judge...

Answer 7

What does the lease say about repairs? Normally, tenants are charged for ONLY for repairs due to their misuse or negligence.

Unless the lease states tenants are responsible for all repairs, I'd WRITE them a letter:

Dear Landlord:

We were mistakenly sent a bill for a plumbing repair that is clearly your responsibility under the lease, Paragraph XX line XXX. We are returning same to you.

Please remove the charge from your ledger, and send a corrected ledger at your earliest convenience.

With the warmest wishes for this holiday season,

Joe Tenant

Answer 8

The landlord is responsible for such repairs unless it can be determined that the actions of the tenants somehow caused the sink to start leaking.

Answer 9

Plumbing can be new in an old house.

But it is unlikely that the tenants caused the leak. The only possible way I can think of would be abusing the disposal.

This one should fall on the landlord, it is not damage caused by the tenant.

Answer 10

I'm a landlord and we are responsible for the property we own and rent.
If the leak was caused by you due to mis-use you might have to pay it, but I doubt it. I wouldn't expect my tenants to pay for maintence on my property. Should this happen it would be a case taken & settled at small claims court with a magistrate judge.
To find the rules for you as a tenant and your landlord they are listed on your state website & then do a search in the search bar for "landlord tenant laws" (less the quotation marks).
You can find you state's website by clicking on usa.gov below. Inside this website it will link you to your state's website or you can easily access it by typing in your http as I have examples for you .