My mobile home park has had a string of bad landlords, and I have problems yet again with the most recent one....so you'll see a few posts from me while I try to figure this stuff out....LOL.
Our park has several septic tanks that are shared among the tenants, and the tanks and piping have been failing for the nearly 10 years I've lived here. The landlord has stated that he's going to raise the rent if he needs to replace the septic system (each landlord claims the previous one never told them of the problems before purchase). So this is problem/question 1...I know he can't raise rent mid-lease, but would we have any legal option if he raised it to repair the septic that the previous landlords failed to maintain?
Problem 2...We moved in in the winter and the landlord at the time took a plow straight back from the driveway the entire length of the lot to "clear it" (too bad it wasn't where the trailer needed to go) and broke off a septic pipe in the process...one of those white pipe that sticks a bit out of the ground, can be used for draining, clog removal, etc. Well, that pipe remained open for a few years (we partially covered it with a brick), getting who knows what into the system. We finally got the next landlord to fix it, but we still get septic water, toilet paper, etc in our yard when it backs up. We had a plumber out here over the winter to clear a clog in the system, and he discovered that both that pipe and the one in the ground under our trailer (therefore the landlord's) are both cracked and need repairs. I told the landlord and he promised to repair them when "it got warmer out"....they still haven't been fixed. I reminded him of this in a letter about 2 weeks ago and haven't heard anything back. What are my options?
Problem 3...Just before the plumber came out, the landlord told my husband to wrap heat tape around the pipe from the house to the ground (thinking it was frozen) to clear it. When he tried to, the pipe came loose (it sits very loose in the connection due to the cracking and everything in the pipe came gushing out all over him and the ground. We STILL have an area that extends about 4 feet out from the pipe in every direction that's got TP all over. Did the landlord have any right to ask us to even attempt that before he would call a plumber? My husband could have been electrocuted! Who's responsible for cleaning up the mess from the overflow (I'm sure that's not just from that one time...it backs up a lot)? We really think it's gross to have it under our house, and even worse in the yard.
Thanks!
Candi
Our park has several septic tanks that are shared among the tenants, and the tanks and piping have been failing for the nearly 10 years I've lived here. The landlord has stated that he's going to raise the rent if he needs to replace the septic system (each landlord claims the previous one never told them of the problems before purchase). So this is problem/question 1...I know he can't raise rent mid-lease, but would we have any legal option if he raised it to repair the septic that the previous landlords failed to maintain?
Problem 2...We moved in in the winter and the landlord at the time took a plow straight back from the driveway the entire length of the lot to "clear it" (too bad it wasn't where the trailer needed to go) and broke off a septic pipe in the process...one of those white pipe that sticks a bit out of the ground, can be used for draining, clog removal, etc. Well, that pipe remained open for a few years (we partially covered it with a brick), getting who knows what into the system. We finally got the next landlord to fix it, but we still get septic water, toilet paper, etc in our yard when it backs up. We had a plumber out here over the winter to clear a clog in the system, and he discovered that both that pipe and the one in the ground under our trailer (therefore the landlord's) are both cracked and need repairs. I told the landlord and he promised to repair them when "it got warmer out"....they still haven't been fixed. I reminded him of this in a letter about 2 weeks ago and haven't heard anything back. What are my options?
Problem 3...Just before the plumber came out, the landlord told my husband to wrap heat tape around the pipe from the house to the ground (thinking it was frozen) to clear it. When he tried to, the pipe came loose (it sits very loose in the connection due to the cracking and everything in the pipe came gushing out all over him and the ground. We STILL have an area that extends about 4 feet out from the pipe in every direction that's got TP all over. Did the landlord have any right to ask us to even attempt that before he would call a plumber? My husband could have been electrocuted! Who's responsible for cleaning up the mess from the overflow (I'm sure that's not just from that one time...it backs up a lot)? We really think it's gross to have it under our house, and even worse in the yard.
Thanks!
Candi
