Backed up septic tank, feces in basement, landlord won't do anything until tomor
By ashlee832002
@ashlee832002 (424)
United States
November 5, 2006 10:27pm CST
Anyone know legal information about sewers and rentals. Our sewer got backed up or something and the basement just started spraying water. Not to mention we have feces (human crap) on the floor, on the washer and dryer and so forth. The landlord isn't doing anything until tomorrow. Does anyone know any laws about this? Isn't this something that is supposed to be taken care of today? I need your help!! Any leads for a website or a phone number to call in emergencies like this?
4 responses
@ChewySpree (1832)
• United States
6 Nov 06
Oh man, I can't imagine how you must feel to be in that situation. I am so sorry you're having to deal with this.
I don't know what the law says about rentals, but you might want to check your lease agreement to see what it says about emergency repairs. Does it specify a time frame for emergency response by the landlord?
Homeowner's insurance generally doesn't cover sewage backup unless the homeowner purchases a specific rider. We did buy the rider for our house because it's an older house.
Do you have renter's insurance for your personal belongings that need to be replaced?
@ashlee832002 (424)
• United States
7 Nov 06
Nope no home owner's insurance. Or rental insurance I should say. Nothing got damage (what we know of right now) except the clean clothes that were in the laundry basket in the basement.
@Sunset50 (1397)
• United States
6 Nov 06
Call your local health department, also call your state agencies, they will force him to take care of it. I know what you are going through, I live in a rural area and last spring my septic tank backed up and filled the crawl space under the house. It was horrible! Not only the smell but the diseases that could have been spread and the length of time to get pipes replaced, a new septic system, and sanitizing the crawl space.
@ashlee832002 (424)
• United States
7 Nov 06
We called the health department and they said they had to take care of it by noon today. Well, they came and cleaned the basement (which was not done by a professional but by a woman and her like 10 year old boy). The septic is supposed to get pumped tomorrow. But we'll see. The worst thing - he opened the septic and shovels some stuff out of it and toss the "fecal matter" in the back yard! Totally illegal in my opinion.!
@sillyputty (99)
• United States
6 Nov 06
Yuck! I don't know if there is anyone you can call on a Sunday night, but first thing in the morning you could try calling your local health department. The only one I can think of that you could call tonight would be the police.
@ashlee832002 (424)
• United States
7 Nov 06
I wanted to call the police, but I'm not sure what they could have done. We got ahold of the health department today. I guses I will see how it pans out tomorrow.
