New Septic pump failure, who is to blame?

Question

Two part question: 1. Is the plumbing company liable? 2. Should I find a new property manager?

Situation:

Renting out a 3 bd, 2 bath SFH in North Carolina. Around September the grinder pump for the septic failed, the house is about 20 y/o and it’s the original pump as far as I know so i replaced it with no questions asked.

About 8 months later, the pump failed again.

The PM office tells me the original installer refused to come back out, and said it “wasn’t his problem”, and then stopped returning their calls.

Property manager has new company replace the pump. New company cites improper wiring, rocks not cleared from pump area, and did not think it was caused by tenant.

PM office basically says “nothing we can do” as far as recouping cost. I tell them it’s unacceptable that they’re using lack of communication with a large company with an office in the same town as an excuse and just giving up.

After we agree to make a claim in small claims court, the property manager is finally able to get ahold of the plumbing company who offers to pay 1/3 of the cost to avoid court.

That’s where we’re at currently. Is the plumber liable? Am I asking too much of my property management to be more aggressive in dealing with this matter?

Drew Sygit · Answer

What does your property management contract say about maintenance responsibilities?--If nothing, lesson learned by you!

What did you pay the PMC to handle this for you?--If nothing, then you got what you paid for:(  Another lesson learned.

You may want to consider accepting the 1/3 from the plumber, but ask the PMC to also kick in 1/3.

If you decide you need a new PMC, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”, since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processes

Anna Laud · Answer

@Mike Ferguson

Hi Mike!

It seems like you might have a few things here to consider;

1. Was there a warranty of any kind provided by original septic service company (on grinder itself or labor) that was violated in contractual terms?

2. PM here seems maybe less aggressive than you would desire them to be, especially after the otherwise inexplicable turnaround once small claims court came into the picture.

As far as the warranty goes vs shoddy workmanship; this is kind of a two fold scenario where by one token you're almost one full year out from the original repair, but on the other if they warrantied it, it should be covered.

Odds are if they are willing to make any financial contributions at this point beyond (without a warranty that was broken) it seems like you're ahead. I'll be honest too, they know what they are offering you as it's 1/3 of what you're paying to get it fixed- smaller in terms of $ than those of going to civil court, yet no offers made to come out and re-do the work themselves or pay full price to fix it (ergo, they know how much it seemed you were willing to accept to avoid a mechanic's lien, civil court, or paying you back in full for second repair, so they just want to be finished with this situation totally)

As far as PM goes- again, suspicious that they only sprung into action after court was mentioned and were otherwise lackadaisical in approach to resolve. This wouldn't sit well with most owners it seems but firing would be whatever you were most comfortable with personally.

This would be less of an issue for you maybe as you indicated it's one solo property, and we aren't maybe then talking about where you could stand to lose a few units of rent, multiplied by however many months until a new PM is found. (Usually would advise not letting current PM go until you've got another PM waiting in the wings to take over as daily PM tasks are often set aside in spite of being fired- including rent collection in  some cases!)

In a nutshell, I would accept the 1/3 in 'rebate' as a consolation prize and move along to avoid mounting/expensive court costs unless a warranty was violated. I would probably also begin to get feelers out for new PM's and interview them accordingly, and see if anyone/group had more of my best interest (bottom line/common sense in handling these situations) in mind.

Hope that helps!

Joe Splitrock · Answer

Most service providers like plumbers would jump at the opportunity to come back when a premature failure occurs. The smart ones know it is a potential liability, because installation mistakes happen all the time. If they go on site, it is far less expensive than getting a bill for someone else to fix it. I would tell the plumber, I gave you a chance to come fix it. Since you refused to warranty your work and forced me to hire a third party, I expect you to pay the full bill.

Any installation like this should be warrantied for at least a year, unless some user fault is determined.

New Septic pump failure, who is to blame?

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