Is Landlord Responsible For High Water Bill Due To Running Toilet?

When you first rented your apartment, things went swimmingly. Then, the toilet started running. First it was a little dribble. It never seemed to stop. You called the landlord and nothing happened for a while. Then, your landlord got your water bill. It’s sky high. Does this sound like your scenario? It may be time to know who’s to blame.

When it comes to water bills, the responsibility rests solely on the person whose name is on the bill. However, your landlord is required to fix the running toilet by law. If it hasn’t been fixed in a timely matter, you may have the right to withhold rent.

Figuring out what your landlord is responsible for can be a nightmare. Before you panic, it’s important to take a look at how things work in your area.

Upgraded Home is an awesome site for home improvement advice, and to a lessor point, advice on renting. However, we’re a national site. Laws change from state to state. Sometimes, it’s even from town to town. If you are having a legal dispute, then you need to hire a real estate lawyer in your area to figure out what’s right for your situation.

We are providing this information as a general guideline on what most states’ laws have in place. Your personal situation may not reflect what is written here.

In the vast majority of landlord-renter relationships, landlords will pay for hot water as part of rent prices. Water is generally going to be a bill that the landlord has to factor into their payments. So unless you are actively billed a water bill or were declared responsible for water via your rental agreement, you have nothing to worry about.

Take a look at your renter’s agreement. You will be able to see all the details about the water bill there. If you were never required to pay the water bill in the first place, this is not your problem. Otherwise, you might have a problem on your hands.

A runny toilet can cause a lot more damage than you would expect, especially if your toilet is running heavily. Each toilet flush will take at least three gallons of water. When your toilet starts to leak around the flapper controlling water flow, you’re stuck with a toilet that constantly flushes.

While every toilet leak is different, the average leaky toilet will waste 200 gallons a day. Within a week, you could end up wasting 1,400 gallons or more. Needless to say, this can lead to a serious water bill that you might struggle paying…even if you are well-off.

Leaky toilets won’t make that much of an impact on your water bill in most parts of the country—at least, not when it comes to the base price. If you assume a base rate of $1.50 per 1000 gallons, a leaky toilet will add around $1.80 to your water bill after a week.

This may not seem like much, but it’s important to realize that there are other fees that can occur. In some areas, you may actually face fines for extreme water use. (Looking at you, California!) If you’re a landlord, it makes sense to try to tame your toilet’s leak, if only to avoid fines.

If your landlord just threatened to raise your rent to “cover the water use,” you may need to call a real estate attorney. While landlords can raise your rent annually, they cannot just randomly pick what time of year they do their rent increase. Moreover, excess water use should never involve a serious threat from your landlord.

A landlord generally cannot evict you based on your water use. If you get a letter claiming that you can be evicted, now would be a time to get a real estate attorney. Moreover, if the excess water use was caused by the leaky toilet you alerted them about, your landlord has no one else to blame but himself.

Related Questions

What causes a running toilet?

The most common cause of a running (or “leaky”) toilet is a pretty simple. The flapper that controls the flow of water to the toilet might be misplaced. Or, it might have lost its suction. In either case, the vacuum and plug that is necessary to keep your toilet from running ends up being unavailable.

Why is water running from underneath my toilet?

Oh no! This is a type of leak that can cause serious loss of water as well as serious damage to your floor and plumbing. This type of leak is generally caused by your toilet’s seal losing its suction/sealing power. In order to fix this, you will have to replace the seal around your toilet.

How much is California’s Water Waste fine?

The water waste fine can vary from city to city, but it’s not unusual for residents to get slapped with a $1000 fine. If you continue to be non-compliant, then the state can fine you an additional $10,000 plus a $500 daily fee. This makes it a serious problem for both landlords and residents. Thankfully, the caps on water use are fairly high.