Repairs, Maintenance Landlord charging us for routine sink maintenance

[SeanP2L]

Our landlord contracts out with a maintenance company to provide routine maintenance to tenants (free, or as part of the rent I guess).

We had an issue a few weeks ago with our sink backing up. This has actually been a common problem with however the plumbing is connected to the unit above or next to us. We've had issues where we hear one of them turn their garbage disposal on, and then our sink backs up. Just weird stuff.

This particular issue was totally random as far as I can tell - we were sitting there watching TV and all of the sudden the sink just completely backs up and begins overflowing. After draining the sink, it would immediately fill with water as soon as we turned on the sink. It was clearly clogged.

So I tell the landlord, maintenance comes and fixes it. Today I get a note on my door that I owe the landlord $80 because the problem was "caused my tenant neglect, which makes you responsible..." There is an attached note from the maintenance company that says the cause of the stoppage was grease and food removal (what else would you expect to find in sink pipes?) and that they had to run various feet of the snake to be able to unclog it.

This seems ridiculous to me. We've had maintenance done quite a bit here and never been charged for it. I don't really see how this is an issue we could have prevented or caused. This wasn't some gradual thing that we ignored. We were not having any problems with the sink until randomly one day it just went completely haywire.

Do I have any recourse to not have to pay this ridiculous charge?

 

[army judge]

You are risking an eviction when you balk at paying any charges by your landlord that you might not believe to be proper.
That said, there are ways you can withhold rent in CA.
You might want to just pay it, because defending against it, or losing could be far more expensive.
It can't hurt to make an appointment with your LL or his representative to politely discuss the matter.
If your explanation is convincing, you might get a pass.
Be prepared to pay, after you understand.
Be very careful, because if you push things, you could get a vacate notice in a month or two.

This is an informative read, OP, enjoy and learn:


http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/repairs.shtml

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-tenant-rights-withhold-rent-repair-deduct.html

http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/withholding-rent-for-habitability-issues---califor-709681.html

http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/forum-thread/210815/Can-a-tenant-legally-withhold-rent?.html

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/rent-abatement-35223.html

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Look; you can post to as many legal sites at you want (and this makes three by my count) but a sink drain clogged with grease and food (which you seem to think is normal) is NOT "routine maintenance".

Amazingly, one can actually go years living in a place and never have to call a plumber to snake out a drain line.

Gail

 

[army judge]

Look; you can post to as many legal sites at you want (and this makes three by my count) but a sink drain clogged with grease and food (which you seem to think is normal) is NOT "routine maintenance".

Amazingly, one can actually go years living in a place and never have to call a plumber to snake out a drain line.

Gail

Its an odd practice isn't it?

They troll legal sites all over the web until they read those magic words they've chased endlessly, ceaselessly for weeks, "Dude, you're right, cops can't arrest you if the day of the week ends in the letter "Y"."

Some people shop legal forums to get the answer they desire.

Even if they get that answer, how would it benefit them?
If the answer is right or wrong, telling a judge, police officer, landlord, employer that "LEGAL JEAN YUSS" said that on "THE LAW IS A JOKE" website would carry NO weight anywhere, including "THE LAW IS A JOKE" website. LOL