landlord vs. tenant

[cortney]

I am a new renter and need some advice. Back in january the pipes in the basement of my apartment froze and broke. I only occupy the second floor along with two other roomates. Now, our land lord is trying to place the blame on me for the pipes bursting and sent me a bill to pay for them. We responded saying that we were not liable and have been withholding rent because of the dispute. Then yesterday i was told that out landlord is threatening to evict us if we do not pay the rent. She has also turned the bill for the pipes into her insurance. What i don't understand is first, why she didn't turn the bill into her insurance anyway and secondly if she has the right to evict us based on this? I just feel as if she is trying to get more money out of me because she could have taken care of the bill through her insurance company but instead she came after me and on top of that she said that i would pay for the bill and then she would turn it into the insurance. Help!

[OHlandlord]

I do have a couple questions. The pipes burst in the basement from freezing. Do you occupy the first floor or the second floor unit? Is there another tenant on the first floor? Why does he blame you for their freezing? What does he say you did or should have done to prevent this? If you are on floor 2 and someone else is on floor 1, how did you cause this? How could you possibly have effected the basement from up there?

I don't see anything from your post that would have made you liable for pipes in the basement unless this is a common space and the LL is saying you did something down there. She shouldn't be trying to charge you for this. However, you CANNOT rent withhold for a dispute. That is not legal. Rent withholding is only for issues of uninhabitability. Not for disputes with your LL over a bill. Pay your rent immediately along with any late fee or you can be evicted for non-payment. Additionally, you do not keep the money in rent withholding. Rent is deposited, on time, to the clerk of court or their designated bank account. (Keeping the rent money is not rent withholding, it is failure to pay.) The clerk then notifies the LL that rent is in escrow and s/he can claim it after repairs are made. So it cannot be used in your case. Pay now.

After that, if she still tries to force you to pay, simply write to her that you are not liable for this bill since you did nothing to cause the damage. Her only recourse would be to deduct it from your deposit (and you would then file a small claims court case against her for unlawful withholding) or to file a small claims case against you (where you can tell the judge it was not your fault.) If you do not have a lease and are a month to month tenant, she may refuse to renew your monthly agreement and give you notice to vacate. That is the right of either LL or tenant under this type of agreement.

No doubt, she was trying to avoid turning in to her insurance. After a claim, her insurance rates will rise. She was trying to get you to pay to avoid that. (Had you paid, she would probably have never contacted the insurance company.) LLs hate to file claims for just that reason. However, this was a case when she should have either paid for the damage herself or filed the claim.