My husband and I live in a new 3-story house and are currently renting out the finished basement to a female tenant. The way that our house is plumbed, the tenant is on a separate pump than the upper two floors. Unbeknown to us, our tenant had been flushing tampons and Q-tips down the toilet, which eventually caused the pump to burn out and our basement to flood with raw sewage. The plumbing bill came to $2500. Can we hold her responsible for paying some or all of this? We had her sign a lease, which stated that we, the LL, are responsible for repairs unless caused by the negligence of the tenant. Does this qualify as negligence? When she moved in we didn't specifically alert her to the fact that she couldn't flush feminine hygiene products down the toilet as it's on a pump. We assumed it was common sense not to flush anything but human waste and toilet paper.
Here's the back story: My husband and I noticed a foul stench coming from the basement three days prior to the flood, but passed it off as perhaps our tenant had eaten some bad food that evening. The next day the odor had subsided, but returned with a vengeance the following day. Growing concerned, we confronted her about the smell to which she admitted smelling it as well, but had "no idea" where it was coming from. After some prying, she finally admitted that the toilet had backed up two days prior, when we first noticed that smell. My husband asked if he could take a look at the toilet for her, but she insisted that the problem had gone away, so no need. That following day I found a note from our tenant informing us that while she was in the shower, water had flooded into the bathroom through the wall from the neighboring storage room (where the plumbing is located). Given that I was home when this occurred, I was really upset that she didn't bother to alert me immediately, but instead left a note on the counter, and allowed our basement to soak in raw sewage while she went off to work.
In retrospect, there is absolutely NO WAY that she couldn't have realized that the smell was originating from the storage room days earlier, particularly as she uses that room regularly as her kitchenette. In fact, the plumbers even said that had they been called out to look at the system when it first clogged, there is a very good chance they could have saved our pump, costing us $350, instead of $2500.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Here's the back story: My husband and I noticed a foul stench coming from the basement three days prior to the flood, but passed it off as perhaps our tenant had eaten some bad food that evening. The next day the odor had subsided, but returned with a vengeance the following day. Growing concerned, we confronted her about the smell to which she admitted smelling it as well, but had "no idea" where it was coming from. After some prying, she finally admitted that the toilet had backed up two days prior, when we first noticed that smell. My husband asked if he could take a look at the toilet for her, but she insisted that the problem had gone away, so no need. That following day I found a note from our tenant informing us that while she was in the shower, water had flooded into the bathroom through the wall from the neighboring storage room (where the plumbing is located). Given that I was home when this occurred, I was really upset that she didn't bother to alert me immediately, but instead left a note on the counter, and allowed our basement to soak in raw sewage while she went off to work.
In retrospect, there is absolutely NO WAY that she couldn't have realized that the smell was originating from the storage room days earlier, particularly as she uses that room regularly as her kitchenette. In fact, the plumbers even said that had they been called out to look at the system when it first clogged, there is a very good chance they could have saved our pump, costing us $350, instead of $2500.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
