faulty plumbing in condo - refusing to repair

[aptmayhem]

Hey all,

My roommate and I have SEVERAL things going on now. Here is the issue at hand:
I received an email from my landlord informing me of a few "minor glitches" in the plumbing system. This email comes 24 days after we moved in. She knew about these problems and is mentioning them now. I am wondering how the condo passed inspection if these things are wrong, how serious these issues are and what, if anything should be done. Below is the excerpt from the email. Thank you in advance for any input.

Quote:
In the bathtub, on the bottom of the metal thing that has the lever to operate the plug for taking a bath, there is a hole for overflow. I don't know if this is like a flaw in the condo, or if this is a flaw in construction in general, but the overflow doesn't go into a pipe. If you let water go into the hole, it ends up on the downstairs neighbor's ceiling. I know this because I took a bath once and they were knocking on my door and ringing the doorbell like crazy. There was no damage, but I can only assume that the more something like that happens, the more likely damage is going to be.

The other thing is in the basement, on the left side of the laundry tub, there is a shut off valve. This shouldn't be a problem for you because you live in the high part of the community, but apparently if there is like a huge thaw and the ground gets soppy, water can come up through the pipe and into the laundry tub. I have never seen it happen, but I tried to close the drain when I knew there might be a problem. The problem with that is that if you forget that it's closed and do laundry, you'll flood the basement (I've done that twice) and it's a lot of water and a huge pain. After the floods, I tried to either leave myself a note or I would put the strainer thing from the washer into the laundry tub to remind me that something was amiss. I am not telling you that you have to do it, but it's a good idea, if you can remember to undo it after!

I am upset that these things were not mentioned earlier. I am also wondering how the bathtub was made and no pipe attached for the overflow. Kinda a big thing to overlook!

These items present health and safety concerns and we know that the downstairs tenant had to repair water damage when they purchased their condo.

We sent a letter (Certified) and email to the landlord requesting that the bathtub be repaired so it could be used and that we wanted a health and building inspector in to check over the premises. She had legal counsel prepare an email back and said she would not fix anything. If we wanted to terminate the lease, we could, but would have to be responsible for rent until a new tenant was found.

She failed to address our concern regarding the secondhand smoke pouring up into our unit through the vents. I am hearing impaired and have medical diagnoses that qualify me as disabled - the smoke is NOT a good thing.

We have decided to bring the inspectors in ourselves and seek legal counsel. Any thoughts on this issue? Are we in the right in demanding full use of the apartment? Several emails were exchanged prior to signing the lease discussing the condition of the condo. There were issues with the bathroom previously that she recognized and had a contractor in to fix. WHY weren't these flood issues told to us then? We would never have rented an apartment were we couldn't take a bath. She says since the shower works fine, we have sufficient plumbing to bathe.

GRRRRR! Thank you in advance for any input.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Of course you can take a bath. The failure to install an overflow pipe (which would normally be attached to the bathtub drain pipe) is a dumb oversight but it no way impedes your ability to take a bath unless you happen to fill the tub so fill that it goes higher than the overflow valve level.

I'm not sure if your argument that either issue that has been brought to your attention would in any way be considered either a safety or health issue for you.

Gail

 

[aptmayhem]

Thanks.

We spoke with an attorney yesterday who informed us that her refusal to fix things or even look into it is a violation of the Warranty of Habitability. There is also the fact that there is second hand smoke pouring in through the vents and we rented a "non smoking" apt. She failed to even address this concern.

Attorney said move out and let her sue.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Okey dokey but it's likely you'll lose the lawsuit, lose your security deposit, and have a judgement for breaking the lease on your credit record, likely making it more difficult for you to find another rental.

Gail