Need Landlord Help: Toilet explodes when it rains! He does nothing.

you could say that you will call the inspector in 5 business days if nothing has been repaired, but it might be a good idea anyway to see if there are any other code issues to get fixed
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I would not threaten. Just do. Give the guy a chance, then just DO.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Nice.

Should I just do that or would it be better to warn the landlord so he can hurry and fix it before they come? In other words it gets fixed, maybe a lot faster?
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That's a tough call. If you have complained to him about this a few times and nothing has happened. Screw him, he'll just try to band-aid it.
If you think he deserves a heads up and it might get his ass in gear... it couldn't hurt.

I would probably call them both on the same day and tell him that you have made a call to the city.

Mike
 
BTW, my dad owns a large plumbing and fire sprinkler company here in LA. 10 years ago he started nagging me to take over. I had just started in fashion photography, though and have been happily there since.

Jack's sh*t.....or models.


Not a hard choice.
 
At the company i used to work for half the power outlets on one side of the wall in one room did not work, so we had extension cords running across. We kept telling the landlord and they did nothing, so about 8 months later there was a random fire inspection and they got written up for that and it was fixed the next day...
 
yeah, the landlord can put you off, Jack, for as long as he cares to. He cant put BLDG and SAFETY off at all.
 
Dude... Having your toilet blow up every time it rains, and having feces spraying in your home for two years is completely unacceptable. It doesn't matter what your lease would say. Any reasonable person would have to deem that totally unacceptable.... Feces spraying in your living quarters for two years is a public health concern, and not fixing it for two years after repeated requests is negligent in my opinion.

If this is happening to more people in your building, all of you take his ass to small claims court. I'm sure you could get more than just the problem fixed in terms of compensation.

You have proof, and this has been going on for two years... two years... Unacceptable. Sue his ass. Seriously. Small claims court. You and other tenants.

Later,
Jason
 
Thanks for all the responses.

PM from a member who's a lawyer (different area though I think)

... I don't really do this kind of thing, but here's a suggestion (along with the obligatory "laws in your State may differ, so please consult a member of the bar in your State before relying on any of the following").
  1. That's crap. Literally. Stop paying your rent immediately. Send a letter to the landlord confirming that as a result of its breach to provide you with quiet possession of habitable living space, any rent will only be paid after the problem is demonstrably fixed and subject to offset of any expenses you may incur as a result;
  2. If the landlord doesn't fix the problem, then apply your withheld rent to your moving costs to new premises (personally, I'd get the hell out of there in any event);
  3. Report the problem immediately in writing to whatever government/public body handles landlord-tenant problems. You MUST advise of the flow of sewage into your premises. Send pictures along with the filing;
  4. report the problem immediately to the local health authority. You MUST advise of the sewage flowing into your premises; and
  5. Contact the press. The juicy gossip TV station in town (maybe one with a consumer advocate if they have such things there). Alter them and give them your video. If you have no video, then invite them over the next time it happens - and give them the documentation regarding how often it has happened and the lack of responsiveness from the landlord. This stuff makes good TV - who could resist a story about raw sewage flowing into a residence and a landlord saying ... what - "it isn't their problem"? White hat. Black hat. Perfect for an exciting three minute on-air ambush of the landlord.
How long have you lived there? Did it just start happening, or has it always happened. I bet that if you just moved in, the previous tenant left for the same reason. In that event, the landlord knew of a material defect in its ability to provide you with habitable space and failed to advise you - in short that could be fraudulent misrepresentation. That's bad. For the landlord.

...
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Do you.... have a camera Jack? Some tasty 1080p fecal footage. Yum!


Sounds like good advice.
 
That piece of sh*t? hahahahahah hahahahaahaha I so funny.





(just to be clear, I realize I'm stupid.)
 
I found a collection of landlord/tenant legal discussions in the New York Times here: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/answers-about-tenant-landlord-issues/

I only scanned one page but saw this discussion that refers to the applicable provision of New York state law. Might be worth reading through the rest of them. However, this response makes it clear that you may be eligible for some serious rent abatement given the 2-year history (assuming you have it documented well).

If you haven't sent a registered or certified letter to the landlord I would most definitely do so immediately. Make reference to the statute referred below and recite the history of the problem. If you should have to pursue formal proceedings such a letter will be extremely important provided the landlord did not respond (or if he does repond to your letter without disputing your version of the facts).

Here's the excerpt from the NYTimes:
Q: The city recently installed a fire hydrant on my block in Brooklyn. Consequently, my superintendant has to turn off the water in the morning, and turn it on in the evening. However, when the water is turned back on, it does not reach the top floors until early in the mornings,or not at all. After numerous complaints to my landlord, superintendent and 311, there has been no consistent resolution to this problem.
Are there circumtances that a tenant can sue a landlord for negligence, and be reimbursed for the inconveniences?

A: In this particular instance, you wouldn’t sue your landlord for “negligence.” You would assert a claim that the owner has breached the “warranty of habitability” — Real Property Law Section 235-b — a New York State law which provides that rental apartments must be “fit for human habitation” and free of conditions “which would be dangerous, hazardous or detrimental to their life, health or safety.”
Courts have interpreted this law as conditioning a tenant’s obligation to pay rent upon a landlord’s compliance with its statutory obligation to maintain an apartment in “habitable condition.”
Believe it or not, the acts of third parties — like Con Edison or even the City of New York — will not excuse a landlord from its obligations to comply with this law.
Since the failure to provide running is a serious violation, you would arguably be entitled to a rent “abatement” or reduction for the period(s) of time you are without service. If you anticipate litigation, it is of utmost importance that you maintain a log and document the specifics of the outages (by date, time, and duration). That kind of record will help buttress your claim.
​
 
Jack... first off, that SUCKS!

Secondly... that's insane... never seen ANYTHING like that!

hope this gets solved quickly.
 
jack, quit being a baby about this; it's only human excrement on your floor. having to clean up your neighbors' fecal matter from time to time won't kill you.
 
That kind of Special FX would cost a lot of money to build, rent it out.

If you made enough money renting your toilett to film companys you may have a plumber look into a valve that has to be there somewhere.

I don`t know the neame of that valve in english but it works like the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve in your car.

We had the same thing in the basement and it was just that stuck valve.

Frank
 
Jack Daniel Stanley:
"We're having a party this Friday, why don't you stop by."

Me:
"I'll let you know, I have to check the forecast."

...and scene.
 
LOL. :laugh:

Uga, I know you're joking, but it's not so much the fact that we have to deal with poo. It's that sometimes at midnight when you need to pack your gear and take a shower to make a 4AM flight you walk into a cesspool that you have to clean and drain before you can pack your camera gear and get your shower .... or if your my GF you walk into the bathroom at 7AM to find it like that and have to be at work in 2 hours. Or it's 11pm and she's one of those people that really needs her 8 hours every night. That's the part that's really getting to us, just that there's this big mess we have to clean up to use our facilities when we most need them.

Stupid landlord
:kali::badputer:

:grin:
 
black text = censored
email from girl friend said:
So as a follow-up to last night's ritual raw sewage flood/toilet volcano in our bathroom, I just had an interesting conversation with THE RECEPTIONIST at THE LANDLORD's office. I called her to let her know it had happened again, and she said that they have called New York City's Department of Environmental Protection (which is who I am referred to when I call 311 to report the flooding) and that the DEP reps are coming out before 1 PM today to look at the sewers. SHE said the last time it happened their plumbers did everything they could think of to deal with the problem and whatever they did obviously didn't fix it, so that's why the management office has called the City in.

I also ran into Ben and Yasmin (and Bella) this morning (our next door neighbors on one side) and asked them if they had any problems, and they said it happened once and they told THE SUPER and it hasn't ever happened again. They heard that it was a problem with the sewage pump, but I have no idea who they heard that from. I also remembered that Barbara told me once that her and Ken's toilet "gurgles" when it rains - they just put the lid down and that solves their problem.

Thus concludes the latest installment of the volcano toilet of Apartment 1H...

- Megan
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