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adamglumac t1_j6kagy7 wrote

So the landlord wants you to pay extra because their plumbing infrastructure is inadequate and is leaking? This would be an immediate call to 311, I’d inform the landlord I’d pay my regular rate, or a 1/3 of last years bill from the same month, if every month is fairly consistent this is a no brainer. Get their responses documented. Also review your lease.

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GroundbreakingRock2 OP t1_j6kfaoe wrote

Thanks for the advice. I called 311 and they said to review the lease and try calling the fair housing authority. My lease only states I’m responsible for water, not how it’s divided.

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adamglumac t1_j6kg0c6 wrote

The lease is the most important thing. It’s not illegal to have tenants split a bill, despite what some have offered. Now armed with all the information I’d proceed to the landlord, you have no problem paying for water, but paying for a leak that’s not in your unit is not your responsibility, and the timeliness of the repair matters as well. Email the landlord, don’t call, and if it’s handled in person or via a call, email them anyway highlighting the points you talked about. Ex- I was just reaching out after our conversation yesterday and just wanted to confirm…

Edit: the key legal term here is foreign load, the extra amount added to the bill by the leak, which should be pretty easy to show with records

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DarkKnyt t1_j6mk1t6 wrote

Really good comments all around and thanks for affirming that you can split a common bill as long as it is specific enough in the lease.

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