Neighbor complained about leaks and potential mold in her unit

[Robert McCormick]

Neighbor (the owner/landlord) below my condo unit has complained about leaks from our unit several times claiming that it has resulted in potential molding and other serious issues even though we only see some small brown stains and drops of water in the kitchen and bathroom area. Is she just trying to get money from us

 I posted this on reddit and the text above is the title from the Reddit Post (elaborates on the question and such)

This will be a long post but to start things off we have a condo unit with a tenant there that has unfortunately had some plumbing issues that has required repairs multiple times. In October of last year the kitchen sink was clogged up bad enough to where there were drops of water dropping into the kitchen of the unit below. I hired a plumber to fix the drain and such so that was handled and they suggested that we get a restoration guy out there to look at it. I did that and they gave me their suggestions about potential repairs. From there my mother (co-owner of the unit along with me) and I decided to go through our insurance to make a claim and see how much it would really cost as she had her suspicions about the whole thing. We were eventually able to find someone and I met with the other owner and her tenant and the repairman to discuss the whole thing. I was sympathetic with the owner and tried to be as understanding as possible while still siding with my tenant and making sure that there were not any more issues or anything as the tenant is with me and is someone I need to support.

Fast forward to April of this year the kitchen sink was clogged again due to too much food being in the drain. I called the same company to clean it out and fix it so things were better for the time being. I then realized that my tenants never had a trashcan and were using trash bags up to that point so I had purchased a trash can and bags for them to prevent any more problems from that going forward. When this occurred the owner stated that she had to replace valves in the restroom and kitchen, dishwasher hose, kitchen faucet, and the garbage disposal drain. She and her tenant sent me more photos of what they have had to do and explain their complaints. Next month in May there was water leaking in their bathroom and they sent me a video of them having a bucket in there for the water leaking from our unit. It turned out there were some issues with the shower valve dripping the cartridge. We had new cartridge installed and had the toilet tank rebuilt for the time being and didn't hear anything again for 1 month. This past Thursday I was informed about water leaking in the bathroom again due to the toilet so I purchased a new toilet and had the old one replaced Saturday morning from another plumber due to the one I had before not being available until Monday. The toilet was replaced and from there we scheduled for a restoration guy to show up this morning and look over the downstairs unit. My mother and I were there and the owner kept explaining how she had to make all these repairs and that our tenants were doing a poor job and such which we agreed. There is a 99% chance that we will not renew the lease as it ends in August (We could potentially terminate the lease but at this point in time I don't want to yet for a number of reasons).

Back to the restoration appointment, the owner complained of brown stains on the bathroom walls and the potential of mold growing my mother had serious suspicions that the owner is over-exaggerating and feels that she is simply trying to get as much money from us as possible. Up to this point as stated before I have been understanding and cooperative with them in regards to the issues so before anyone decides to ridicule me and say that I am a bad landlord or anything understand that I am trying to work with them and keep a good relationship as well make sure that my tenants stop having plumbing issues and have a good experience. After the appointment we went back to our unit and spoke to the tenants and my mother vented/complained about her suspicions towards the owner claiming that she just wants more money and said multiple times that she believes it is all ********. Unfortunately my knowledge of restoration is very limited but I will be meeting with the same restoration people tomorrow to inspect my unit. I have had the repairs done as needed and will most likely not renew my tenants lease because overall it is unacceptable to have as many plumbing repairs as we have had up to this point. I will add that the building's plumbing lines or whatever are at least 40 years old and the person we bought the unit from didn't do the best job. I'm sure there are some problems but we will wait and see what restoration says about our unit and then go through insurance immediately after. I am also going to be speaking to the condominium complex manager tomorrow about the situation and ask questions about the previous owner.

Again I have done just about everything I can in regards to repairs and working with my tenants who have been great in terms of paying rent on time and have responded to all of my messages in regards to minor complaints from the neighbors (things like cigarettes flying out of the area and such). Again I will very likely end the lease in august and move forward with other options. I am sure explaining the plumbing repairs we had done wasn't totally necessary but seeing that we did not see mold anywhere and as stated before just some minor brown stains and such. Any feedback regarding the likeliness of the owner over exaggerating or her claims 100% legit would be appreciated.

To prevent any confusion the neighbor I am referring to is the owner/landlord of the unit below mine. She has a tenant in there as well and is the one who has made the complaints. 

[Nathan Gesner]

You should be able to look at the walls and ceiling to discern if the stains/mold is due to moisture inside the wall or on the surface of the wall. Based on what you've described, this sounds like moisture on the surface of the wall, which would be caused by excess moisture in those areas from the Tenant not ventilating the bathroom while showering or cooking with a lot of steam in the kitchen area.

A contractor can put a moisture meter in the sheet rock and quickly tell if there is any moisture inside. I'm not sure why nobody has done that for you yet, but that would be my next step. If the sheet rock is dry inside, you know it's a problem inside her unit and it's her issue to fix. If the sheet rock has excess moisture, it's coming from inside the walls and your leak is the likely culprit.