Pipes Froze - What’s My Responsibility to Tenants

[Will Melton]

So in this recent deep freeze, our water line froze between the house and the street. Inside pipes were fully thawed and eventually dried out as the main was frozen for five days. We had a plumber come from our warranty company because a pipe under OUR sink came separated from the valve. He seemed like a total idiot, so I didn’t entirely trust him when he said the only option was to wait for it to thaw. Since the coming days had a forecast for warmer weather, we decided each day whether to wait or call someone. (I was really just hoping they would thaw.) On day four, one of my tenants seemed a bit more agitated than the days prior. (His girlfriend was pretty cordial the whole time.) I decided to wait until the next day before I thought seriously about digging up the yard and fortunately they unfroze the next morning. I felt bad the entire time because I knew what it was like to not have running water. (We had to find daily errands just so we could take a ****.) But my question is, did I make a mistake by waiting? The city (utility), plumbers and the news that many others in surrounding states still had frozen pipes led me to wait, but should I have tried to intervene sooner. Did I have a legal obligation to do more? I hope this doesn’t happen again, but you never know. I’d love to know what others have done in the past. Thanks!

[Brandon Ingegneri]

Technically, you are responsible for the utilities between the house and the street.  If it were inside of the house, the pressure is for sure on you to get things up and running.  With something like this, your supply line shouldn't freeze if it was installed below the frost line, so that may be another issue that you want to address.  Personally, I think you would have a case to say that its a repair that reasonably didn't need to be made due to the fact that the problem would correct itself and was a result of extreme circumstances with the weather.  If there wasn't a break in the cold snap, ultimately, you would have to do something.  Its a tricky one.  Looking forward to seeing what some other thoughts are to be honest.