Tampons causing drain blockage

General Landlording & Rental Properties
9yFollow

Tampons causing drain blockage

Rachel Pivonka
Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2015 · 76 posts · 14 votes

I need some advice. Do I foot the bill? Do I bill tenant for the cost or half the cost? Here is what happened...

I send out a 24/7 plumber on from a large reputable company on Friday after tenant calls. I reminded my tenant that if the problem is caused by a clog it is her expense. Plumber says he thinks it is a problem where the sewer line is out in the yard from a collapsed cast iron pipe. Project managers goes out with plumber to confirm and write  an estimate. To replace the cast iron pipes in the yard is about $1300. 

Turns out they were wrong. After replacing pipes in yard still its still clogged. I'm not happy. Today (Tuesday) they found where the clog was under the house but they had to dig the section of pipe up. When they cut the pipe open they found some roots and 8 tampons. Aside from dealing with the plumbing company who wasn't detailed enough when diagnosing the problem and did work that didn't need to be done what should I have the tenant pay for? The plumber mentioned something to her about tampons at some point and she said she hadn't flushed any.

Before I found out about her tampons I said I would compensate her and she asked for help with the hotel bills because she couldn't stay with family. Today she said her hotel bills are more than $900 which seems high to me for 4 or 5 nights. 

What would you do? My house rules specifically say not to flush tampons. She has been renting there for 3 months. She has a co-signer as well on the lease. Thanks!!

0Reply
75 views

Most Popular Reply

Kaycee Miller
Professional · Grants Pass, OR · Member since 2016 · 89 posts · 77 votes
9y

If your house rules specifically say no tampons and the blocked pipes are from tampons that have been flushed in the past 3-months, it seems clear it is her fault. It might be an embarrassing situation for her, which is why she is claiming that she didn't do it. 

Since it's her fault, I wouldn't give her money for the hotel, but perhaps do not charge her for the plumbing expenses. It seems likes the roots needed to be found and fixed anyway, but her tampons made the issue come to light sooner, rather than later. Explain to your tenant that you are not going to charge her for the plumbing expenses but since she broke the lease terms by flushing tampons you cannot pay for her hotel expenses. I'd also have your lawyer review your lease to make sure the "house rules" are legal and she has no grounds to take you to court for the hotel expenses. 

In the future, if you have more plumbing issues or maintenance issues that require a tenant to stay in a hotel, give your tenants a daily allowance for a nice (but not the best) hotel in your area. That way you know what to budget for and she can decide if they want to stay in a nicer place. $900 for  week seems reasonable for a super nice hotel but high for say a Holiday Inn. 

2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

27 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Rachel Pivonka
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2015 · 76 posts · 14 votes
    9y

    Thanks @Colleen F.! I was able to have a phone conference with my lawyer and he said stick with not paying hotel expenses. I politely told her that is what I  was advised to do.She said she doesn't think it's fair and doesn't see how I think it isn't fair. 

    In hind sight I should have asked my lawyer first. He may have recommended not being so easy on her because that didn't work anyway. 

    Oh well! I told we had to agree to disagree. I will definitely be adding details to my lease to cover this. Learning the hard way!

    Thanks again for advise!

    0Reply
  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    9y

    So let's recap.

    Friday the big time plumber - yet apparently crappy nonetheless - comes out to service the drain. So how many days did that displace your tenant?

    Then Tuesday a plumber discovers the true cause of drain blockage - tampons and tree roots. So tenant prior to that had to be out of the unit due to the landlord choosing to make a somewhat unnecessary repair. I imagine that the tenant did not have to be out of the unit long for this service - maybe a day, two at most. Tenant having to pay at this point is no doubt the proper thing.

    So, who here thinks the tenant should be responsible for being displaced while the crappy plumber putters away to fix what's not the real issue? I can see the tenant thinking that it is a bit unfair to be out of the unit due to that work that the landlord chose to have performed. I certainly would have questioned any drain service that could not get the drain opened in short order, and would have requested the video inspection to identify the blockage was due to failed pipes and not some obstruction that was dropped into the drains (yes, been there, done exactly that - the drain service "snake" hit something it couldn't clear so took a look at what turned out to be collapsed pipe; my unit was not uninhabitable for the time to cut out the pipe).

    Now, the question of a "reasonable" hotel rate is next; maybe you should explore that if you decide to be more fair and reimburse for hotel time at a more affordable location.

    And clear communication is necessary too - you made some statement that the tenant took to mean "go stay at some hotel courtesy of the landlord", and maybe you said it, maybe you didn't but it sure does not seem clear.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free