Tenant buys refrigerator without consulting me wants me to pay

[Orita Issartel]

A tenant who has just moved into a property I was using once a week for 2-3 days at a time had told me last week that they had a problem with the fridge. The wife told me she had cleaned under and it looked like it was starting to work. The fridge was in great working order when I did the walk thru and the whole time I stayed there.. So today I get a long email from the husband telling me that they went to the scratch and dent somewhere and bought a new fridge. Since in their lease they are responsible for the first $300 repairs he wants me to pay the difference ($287.00). The problem is I never authorized the purchase of a fridge and if I knew there was the need to buy a new fridge I would have done the buying myself. I'm not happy about that. But here is something else much bigger: I don't know what to do about it!!!!!! Has anyone had a problem like this before?

One week before signing the lease I hesitated and wanted to get out of the contract to lease but it was too late. The house does not like them!!!

"Mary also mentioned to me that she saw a small amount of water coming out of the bottom of the toilet in the smaller bathroom. It was enough to soak the red rug around the toilet. We both agreed it was probably the wax ring and I would replace it when I got home. She never used the toilet again until this past Saturday morning just before we left. She had also done 3-4 loads of laundry during the week. Knowing the toilet might have a small leak while we were out, she placed a towel around the toilet in case of a leak. We were going to replace the wax seal later in the day.

Upon our return we discovered the small bathroom had flooded. Water was flowing from the toilet ring and the shower had filled up with sewer water. We immediately used the shop vac, towels and mops to clean up the sewage water on the floor. I shut off the water valve behind the toilet. I used a plunger to see if it was clogged and the water would not go down. We flushed the toilet and the water in the bowl would not go down so I used the shop vac to suck the water out of the tank and the bowl.

Since we agreed to be responsible for the first $300 of repairs we called a plumber. All Pro Plumbing came to the house Saturday afternoon with the intentions of snaking the line and putting in a new wax seal for that toilet. He asked us about having a septic tank and I told him I did not know if there was one. He saw the clean-out cap just outside the back door and when he opened it, it was filled to the top. That is why the water/sewage came into the bathroom, the water had no place else to go. He probed the ground and hit the septic tank. He informed us that he thinks the bathroom and washing machine are connected to a septic tank. If so, it is full and needs to be dug up and vacuumed out to see if it is the tank or the drain field. He also told us it is code violation to have a septic tank in Casselberry living on the lake. Many years ago, the City of Casselberry paid to have all homes on the lake tied to city sewer lines. There is another septic tank in the front yard as well. He is pretty sure the front yard tank is tied to the city lines, but he cannot tell if the back yard clean-out goes to city lines or a septic tank. The plumber explained to us that there may be a height issue between the front and back yard and the waste may not flow to the front without a pumping system. He also recommended, as renters, we don’t snake that line. He said you cannot snake a septic tank because you can cause damage to it and we don’t want to be responsible for damaging the tank. He also noted the clean-out cap is PVC pipe. The original cap would have been cast iron. So that means it is a newer line or work has been done to it by a previous owner. I know you didn’t do anything with the piping so it had to have done years ago.

According to the property appraiser website, that glass back porch was done in 1993. We don’t see any records of permits for the back laundry room and bathroom being added/ converted to the house. The homeowner at that time might have decided to tie into the septic tank with the new bathroom and washing machine? You can only find out by digging it up. If it is not tied to a tank and it is tied to the city lines, then it can be snaked. If it has to be dug up, he made a recommendation of a company they use called Your Environmental Services. They specialize in drainage and septic tank issues. He also suggested for you to call the city and get them to look up your address and what is tied to their lines. It might even be a city issue? We pay for city water and sewage, there is a meter so we are tied to their lines somewhere. The question is do they show the back as part of what is tied to their lines? The plumber pointed out the elevation and slope of the property and how the back yard is lower than the front which is another reason it might have flooded; water doesn’t flow up.

At this point, we have the cap off of the clean-out. He suggested we keep it off or it will back up in the bathroom again. We are not using that toilet, sink or shower until the issue is taken care of. However, we have to do laundry. Mary washed a small load of clothes on Sunday and the water/sewage coming from inside the clean-out was nasty. We are now not able to do laundry until this issue is taken care of. We can’t dump sewage into the back yard. We are going to have to ask Tammy if we can use her washer until this issue is resolved. We paid All Pro Plumbing $157 for a service call on Saturday.

Orita, I am sure this is very unsettling for you. Mary said you were sure that everything worked well in this house when you were here. However, please keep in mind this house was built in 1953 and nobody has really “lived” in this house for years. We really enjoy living here and love this neighborhood. We treat your house as if it was our own. This weekend I installed a dryer vent through the garage so the hot air can flow outside, I replaced all of the florescent bulbs in the kitchen that didn’t work. Today I will be replacing the toilet flushing handle as it allows the handle to rotate too far which allows the chain to get under the seal which causes the water to leak continuously.

We will continue to maintain and repair, at our cost, the items that need to be attended to. However, we must get the issue of the septic drainage sorted out and repaired as soon as possible."