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I explained this so many times I am even starting to doubt the realness of it myself. My landlord is billing me $600 for repairs from a flood that happened at my apt, with the stated cause being a bidet that was left on. I initially thought that's what it was, and I even said. However the next day I turned the huge fan off for a break so I can sleep, and I noticed that a plumbing noise was gone. The plumbing noise was very loud and frequent since April (Easter Weekend, when there was a miantenance), and before that existent but not overbearing. But after Easter I went to the Building Management about it 3 times, I filled out a work order once and nobody came. And I'm not saying that idiot me or my idiot roommates didn't damage plumbing at all, I probably don't know half of what was put down the toilet. However, the noise does not occur when I turn on the pipes, and comes from right above me. Whether its caused by the people above me is a different issue.
After the flood the noise was gone right, I have not heard it since. Another fact is that the bidet handle (it's a handle not a built-in facility) was attached for 4 days after and yet there were no noises. Surely if the bidet was causing pressure on the pipes or something it would continue afterwards. Initially there was some confusion - we thought the bidet might've been "left on" in some other sense (it does have two conditions for being "on": the valve and the dial on the handle) but no the bidet was left running as you might expect and they even have a photograph to prove it. Therefore the cause of the leak was not some internal plumbing damage (by their account) and so, we must inquire as to what caused the plumbing noise to disappear. It's my plan to ask if they made any repairs on the specific day where this happened to see if there is a good explanation. However they are just straight up demanding payment lol.
In the past I had roommates try to take advantage of a good situation. Unfortunately I was a little naive when it came to people, and I got stuck with some awful roommates who refused to pay rent. As the leaseholder I knew I had every right to kick them out - the law . Of course when it comes to evicting people the police need a little more than Dierienow's word when it comes to evicting someone from their home (they obviously had a place to go anyway) and so when it came to it, the police wouldn't help evict them because they weren't certain about the law. So building management made the suggestion that we "fake moving out". Basically because they weren't on the lease, so they would kick me out, and as long as the others didn't say "you can't do that" everything would be fine and we'd kick them out. But of course there was no need to lie and act like I'm getting kicked out because I knew the law beforehand. But here's the kicker, the only reason we couldn't pay is because they were super strict with the deadlines and if we missed them would receive a $200 fee just like that. At the time I wasn't angry because their attitude helped me with my problem, and it is technically their right. However these people, if any, needed some leeway with their finances although when they spent their money on vapes instead of their kid and meanwhile said they couldn't pay rent due to the baby.. yeah obviously I'm going to go with the landlord on that one.
My point with that is they don't necessarily understand or care for breaking the law to get what they need done. In fact they'd willingly choose breaking the law over the perfectly legal option I witnessed it personally. And so now I am dealing with those same people keep in mind.
Since about the time these roommates moved in (a year ago), there have been many other noises from the people upstairs besides plumbing noises. They slam things on the floor, slam the door, construction, drumming, slamming things in the wall. Which I kind of dealt with but it's actually ridiculous, and when I talked to the building management I think she lied and said a family had just moved in upstairs.. when their behaviour is the same from a year ago. So I also want to ask who exactly is upstairs, because they must be avoiding the noise as well and not reporting it also. And seeing as how she is willing to lie about who it is, I'm even more bold. Every single day they are making multiple, multiple banging noises to the point of absurdity, and it happened for at least a year.
Legal Situation
---------------
I am in Ontario and believe I understand the relevant laws but who knows. Not even the police know apparently. But here is my thought process.
If I refuse to pay this, the absolute worst they could do is send me a notice to evict for damages.. but the thing is I don't really want to rest my eviction and home status on the chance that whatever kind of judge will believe my story. I believe this is unfair that it could go that far before anyone even heard the case but I guess that's how it is.
However I also believe that I'm at least partially in the right here. It's not me causing noise, it's the people upstairs. Clearly they heard the noise as well. So why am I forced to report it anymore than the people upstairs or the rest of the floor, who the noise effected. And since that noise is now gone, peculiarly around the time of the flooding, I'd perhaps like to know about THAT mystery before the same shady landlord shows up and starts taking pictures of bidets supposedly left on. I've suffered this noise for months in the full expectation that in the end, me or my roommates were responsible for the damage and I will have to pay $85,000 plus interest. Insurance would cover it you'd expect but I thought they would try to get out of it somehow.
But I'm thinking, if I can show that I did go and see her before the flood, that I filled out a work order, that this noise was very real, loud, and ended when the flood happened, along with any sort of secondary information like their past legal mishaps, any sort of lie or "weirdness" I can get out of them that might show a willingness to deceive especially regarding the topic, I think that is at least reason enough to question the landlord's claim. The two concepts are at least related somehow, see I am not saying that when a red car drove by my house, the apartment flooded. The red car has no connection to the flooding apartment and therefore it would be ridiculous to believe the car caused the flooding. Yet, to say that a plumbing issue was resolved at the same time that a flood happened, is not a coincidence at all in fact it's quite a logical and relevant line of inquiry to wonder if the two are at all connected.
Pictures
---------
https://imgur.com/a/zJ2B4tV
https://imgur.com/a/NJOig4j
https://imgur.com/a/p6pP28a
Description of Items
--------------------
Here I will describe anything relevant to the pictures I linked.
As you can see the building manager (same one who I approached about plumbing issues and ppl upstairs etc) was aware enough to take pictures of the bidet and the, at MAXIMUM, 1.5 inches of flooding present. However when I asked for pictures of damages to the other units, they said they don't have any and I "should have asked for them before the repairs were made" and yet, nobody asked for a picture of my own apartment WHEN THOSE PICTURES WERE TAKEN it was just done because they thought it was the logical thing to do. But to take pictures of the damages wouldn't be the logical thing to do? Isn't it best practice to take pictures of the damages if possible? I'd also question why wasn't video used instead, since if you have the forethought to enter into the situation prepared, and your phone can take video, why not use that instead? That way she could show the actual scene: me waking up confused, and how she went into the bathroom herself before I was even up.
Conclusion
-----------
Please let me know your thoughts and anything that possibly sticks out to you. I am going to seek free legal counsel on Wednesday just to see what the potential side effects would be if I disputed the invoice. They specialize in tenant-landlord relations so will hopefully help me. Just wanted to get more eyes on this and see what people think.
After the flood the noise was gone right, I have not heard it since. Another fact is that the bidet handle (it's a handle not a built-in facility) was attached for 4 days after and yet there were no noises. Surely if the bidet was causing pressure on the pipes or something it would continue afterwards. Initially there was some confusion - we thought the bidet might've been "left on" in some other sense (it does have two conditions for being "on": the valve and the dial on the handle) but no the bidet was left running as you might expect and they even have a photograph to prove it. Therefore the cause of the leak was not some internal plumbing damage (by their account) and so, we must inquire as to what caused the plumbing noise to disappear. It's my plan to ask if they made any repairs on the specific day where this happened to see if there is a good explanation. However they are just straight up demanding payment lol.
In the past I had roommates try to take advantage of a good situation. Unfortunately I was a little naive when it came to people, and I got stuck with some awful roommates who refused to pay rent. As the leaseholder I knew I had every right to kick them out - the law . Of course when it comes to evicting people the police need a little more than Dierienow's word when it comes to evicting someone from their home (they obviously had a place to go anyway) and so when it came to it, the police wouldn't help evict them because they weren't certain about the law. So building management made the suggestion that we "fake moving out". Basically because they weren't on the lease, so they would kick me out, and as long as the others didn't say "you can't do that" everything would be fine and we'd kick them out. But of course there was no need to lie and act like I'm getting kicked out because I knew the law beforehand. But here's the kicker, the only reason we couldn't pay is because they were super strict with the deadlines and if we missed them would receive a $200 fee just like that. At the time I wasn't angry because their attitude helped me with my problem, and it is technically their right. However these people, if any, needed some leeway with their finances although when they spent their money on vapes instead of their kid and meanwhile said they couldn't pay rent due to the baby.. yeah obviously I'm going to go with the landlord on that one.
My point with that is they don't necessarily understand or care for breaking the law to get what they need done. In fact they'd willingly choose breaking the law over the perfectly legal option I witnessed it personally. And so now I am dealing with those same people keep in mind.
Since about the time these roommates moved in (a year ago), there have been many other noises from the people upstairs besides plumbing noises. They slam things on the floor, slam the door, construction, drumming, slamming things in the wall. Which I kind of dealt with but it's actually ridiculous, and when I talked to the building management I think she lied and said a family had just moved in upstairs.. when their behaviour is the same from a year ago. So I also want to ask who exactly is upstairs, because they must be avoiding the noise as well and not reporting it also. And seeing as how she is willing to lie about who it is, I'm even more bold. Every single day they are making multiple, multiple banging noises to the point of absurdity, and it happened for at least a year.
Legal Situation
---------------
I am in Ontario and believe I understand the relevant laws but who knows. Not even the police know apparently. But here is my thought process.
If I refuse to pay this, the absolute worst they could do is send me a notice to evict for damages.. but the thing is I don't really want to rest my eviction and home status on the chance that whatever kind of judge will believe my story. I believe this is unfair that it could go that far before anyone even heard the case but I guess that's how it is.
However I also believe that I'm at least partially in the right here. It's not me causing noise, it's the people upstairs. Clearly they heard the noise as well. So why am I forced to report it anymore than the people upstairs or the rest of the floor, who the noise effected. And since that noise is now gone, peculiarly around the time of the flooding, I'd perhaps like to know about THAT mystery before the same shady landlord shows up and starts taking pictures of bidets supposedly left on. I've suffered this noise for months in the full expectation that in the end, me or my roommates were responsible for the damage and I will have to pay $85,000 plus interest. Insurance would cover it you'd expect but I thought they would try to get out of it somehow.
But I'm thinking, if I can show that I did go and see her before the flood, that I filled out a work order, that this noise was very real, loud, and ended when the flood happened, along with any sort of secondary information like their past legal mishaps, any sort of lie or "weirdness" I can get out of them that might show a willingness to deceive especially regarding the topic, I think that is at least reason enough to question the landlord's claim. The two concepts are at least related somehow, see I am not saying that when a red car drove by my house, the apartment flooded. The red car has no connection to the flooding apartment and therefore it would be ridiculous to believe the car caused the flooding. Yet, to say that a plumbing issue was resolved at the same time that a flood happened, is not a coincidence at all in fact it's quite a logical and relevant line of inquiry to wonder if the two are at all connected.
Pictures
---------
https://imgur.com/a/zJ2B4tV
https://imgur.com/a/NJOig4j
https://imgur.com/a/p6pP28a
Description of Items
--------------------
Here I will describe anything relevant to the pictures I linked.
As you can see the building manager (same one who I approached about plumbing issues and ppl upstairs etc) was aware enough to take pictures of the bidet and the, at MAXIMUM, 1.5 inches of flooding present. However when I asked for pictures of damages to the other units, they said they don't have any and I "should have asked for them before the repairs were made" and yet, nobody asked for a picture of my own apartment WHEN THOSE PICTURES WERE TAKEN it was just done because they thought it was the logical thing to do. But to take pictures of the damages wouldn't be the logical thing to do? Isn't it best practice to take pictures of the damages if possible? I'd also question why wasn't video used instead, since if you have the forethought to enter into the situation prepared, and your phone can take video, why not use that instead? That way she could show the actual scene: me waking up confused, and how she went into the bathroom herself before I was even up.
Conclusion
-----------
Please let me know your thoughts and anything that possibly sticks out to you. I am going to seek free legal counsel on Wednesday just to see what the potential side effects would be if I disputed the invoice. They specialize in tenant-landlord relations so will hopefully help me. Just wanted to get more eyes on this and see what people think.
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