OMG help help- the basement is filled with sewage
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Anonymous
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We are renting a SFH from a total A-HOLE who has apparently not done any maintenance on his house, maybe ever. The house looks great on the surface- however we have had multiple, multiple problems- carpenter ants, mice, black mold in basement (hidden behind the owner's boxes in the basement when we moved in), leaky ceilings, and numerous plumbing issues. The sink in the guest bedroom has never worked, the toilets clog on a dime, and we've had to have the sump pump replaced for multiple episodes of flooding in the basement. (also the hot water heater stopped working and flooded the basement. Oh and the heating system totally crashed last winter during the massive blizzard).
At any rate, our landlord has dragged his feet on every issue (the carpenter ants must be the fault of our housekeeping, for eg) and sends the same inept handyman over to fix every problem. This guy has tried to fix the plumbing 3 different times with no success. The other week the basement drain backed up and out when I started the washing machine, so I haven't used the washer in 2 weeks, thinking this would solve the problem. However, water continues to back out and now there is actual SEWAGE (feces, urine, toilet paper) coming out of the basement floor drain and covering the basement floor. I am beyond grossed out. There are like 2 inches of befouled water down there. How do we clean it? The inept handyman told me to sprinkle some chlorine down there and that would get rid of the germs. HA! He is insane. We are in this lease until the end of June. What to do? About the sewage? Or the landlord? My husband just got some devastating news over the weekend and he is ready to have a nervous breakdown dealing with all of this. Sorry for the novel, thanks for any and all advice. |
Anonymous
| My guess is that exposed raw sewage would be enough to get the house condemned as uninhabitable. Try to find your local tenants' rights organization (TENAC in DC; I'm sure other states have them) or even call whatever gov't entity regulates rental housing & ask them. If this hunch is right and he's actually breaking the law by allowing this situation to continue, I'd send a note via certified mail stating that he's breaking xyz law/statute/regulation, and giving him xx days to clean it before you alert the authorities, OR just tell him you're breaking your lease because the house is not habitable. |
Anonymous
| Where are you located? |
Anonymous
| echo PPs comment. Consult your jurisdiction's Landlord/Tenant affairs office and learn your rights. In DC, renters have a great deal of sway. If you can demonstrate that your landlord has not provided a habitable domicile you can get out of it. I'm sorry, OP. Keep very good notes, including all communicaitons you've had with the landlord. You need to demonstrate that you have complained about problems and have made requests that have gone unanswered. |
Anonymous
| OP - we are in Mclean. Thanks PPs, I will get on that first thing in the AM. |
Anonymous
| Depending on your financial situation, you can ask a lawyer for guidance. Or better yet, if you have proof that your landlord hasn't fixed the problem in a certain number of days, then hire someone to get it fixed and deduct it from your next rent payment, and send your landlord the receipt. If he takes you to court, you have evidence that wthout the work you paid for, the place was inhabitable. |
Anonymous
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OP, don't know about the landlord situation but I think you can and should call Fairfax County Public Works -- Sewage backup number.
I don't think "A little bit of chlorox" is a fix for this situation and neither should the handyman. At least the Public Works people should be able to tell you what needs to be done to fix the problem. When a friend of mine had this happen in MoCo she called someone from the water dept I think and they sent a cleanup crew -- she said they came in hazmat suits. it was beyond disgusting, what her basement looked like. Here's a story of someone in Fairfax County: http://www.angryox.com/sewer.backup/ |
Anonymous
| A lot of good advice here...I just wanted to add that I would be sure to take pictures of the actual sewage in the basement. |
Anonymous
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what if you owned ur property and it was coming from your basement toilet
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Anonymous
| You need to have documented your repair requests in writing and take photos. Too bad you are in va rather than dc |
Anonymous
| If the house in uninhabitable it seems to me the LL has to set you up somewhere else until it's fixed. |
Anonymous
| I'd move out. . Lease is over end of June right? |
Anonymous
This. Renters trash property by having their kids stuff toilet paper and napkins and everything imaginable down toilets--they basically do things to the property that they would never do if they owned it. |
Anonymous
I'm sure they instruct their children to stuff things down toilets. If you hate renters or cannot properly screen them or plan for things going wrong, don't be a landlord. |
Anonymous
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Something similar happened to me when I was renting (not as bad). It turned out that tree roots were blocking the plumbing stack. Landlord sent a plumber and a handyman with a shop vac.
I don't really get where the "what if it was your basement toilet" pp is coming from. It's not the tenant's toilet. It's not the tenant's basement. The tenant has no equity in the property. It's the owner's house, it's the owner's problem (unless they have some special deal written into the lease). And yes, renters can be irresponsible, but it's still the owner's problem-exactly why I would never choose to have renters. The property owner chose to accept this responsibility, he needs to meet his obligations. |