When I moved in April 2022 my plumbing was very slow to drain in entire apartment. Toilet could barely flush #2. First plumber said entire plumbing needed redone. Was only allowed to fix broken pipe. Two months later duplex beside me had sewage come up every where in bathroom. I had little in tub and toilet. Landlord got a plumber to come. I wasn't home. My neighbor told me when I got home they pulled a bunch of brown paper towels and gunk out of his drain. I don't use brown paper towels at all. Barely ever home. Just me that lives here and I pretty much come home shower and sleep. Weeks after incident the landlord sends me a bill for $457 didn't tell me it was my fault until after I paid my rent. I'm responsible for clogs and did sign that I was but how do I know if it was my fault?

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When I moved in April 2022 my plumbing was very slow to drain in entire apartment. .....

The previous tenant probably left/created this SNAFU.

The towels probably DID come from your 'unit', but, were 'deposited' by the previous tenant.

Unfortuneately you are left holding the bag when it 'stopped up' and the plumber determined (perhaps wrongly) that the obstruction was caused by your unit.

Try talking to the landlord and remind him of your PREVIOUS complaints re: plumbing, which originated upon move-in.

Good luck.

An expensive lesson.

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Normally, when pipes are shared, any problem is the responsibility of the OWNER, not the tenants.

It is a RENTAL.

Many leases have 'damage' clauses whereby a tenant who does damage pays for it 'as they go'.

The issue is whether the plumber's 'assignment' of blame to a particular unit would stand up in a court of law.



Assume (for the sake of argument) a tenant DID flush copious volumes of paper towels causing a stoppage.

THAT tenant 'should' pay for any damages.


Proving a particular tenant did the flushing is the million dollar question.

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Assessing liability is the reason why "common" systems are the management's responsibility.

As the tenant 'is responsible for clogs' as per the OP the tenant may have been charged a 'portion' of the bill as well as the OTHER tenant !?

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

No landlord said it was all my responsibility

I did and he said he took care of the plumbing so it was my responsibility. But here we are 06/13/22 and plumbing is already starting to slow drain.

I do have that in my lease. But the inspection sheet he had me fill out after I signed came up with alot of problems. Plumbing being one of them. The entire duplex has bad plumbing. If I thought for one minute I was responsible I would pay but it's definitely not. $457 is hard to come by.

Usually as stated the SHARED plumbing like the building sewer is the owners responsibility unless otherwise stated in the lease agreement

You got a raw deal you have 2 options
1 fight it
2 get out of the lease asap

then try to reason with the landlord and fight it.

I am a landlord and I have it in my leases as well that tenants are responsible for plumbing blockages that they caused. The problem here is in a duplex how can the landlord prove you caused the blockage? You can't unless the blockage is so close to the fixture before the lines of the two units converge. The plumber who sends the snake down to clear cannot know when the lines converge only that he/she felt a resistance so many feet downstream. If the plumber went up to the roof and snaked down, or went into your neighbor's bathroom and pulled a toilet, it is unlikely he can determine the precise location or source of the blockage.

It could be a past tenant, it could be a guest of your neighbor, it could be you, it could be one of your guests. You should have a conversation with the landlord, surely, if the blockage is caused by tree roots, then it cannot be charged to you as that would be his responsibility. So even if your lease says you are responsible, there are situations that you cannot be held responsible, and a landlord cannot just give you the bill without some concrete proof that you caused this. I suggest thinking it through and have a talk with him/her. Best case scenerio he picks up the whole bill if he can't prove it was caused by you, worse case scenerio, say that since he cannot point to a culprit, then at least split the bill three ways - you, the neighbor tenant and the landlord each pay 33% seems more than fair.

? ...... perhaps the amount billed IS 1/3 ...... ?

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

doubtful for a $457 bill if all the plumber did was clear the blockage.

I think last year I had two companies come snake my drain, first one did snaking and location and couldn't locate within 5', charged me like $450. The second one did snaking and camera and charged me $350 total. So at least locally between $250 and $500 is about right depending on time of day.