Water sink backup from sewer blockage damaged dining hall

My owner lives 3-4hrs distance from the apartment I'm renting from him. Water backed up from kitchen sink and damaged the Dining hall carpet. It was then dried and then was all good for a week.
Later on a Sunday, I saw water backing up from kitchen sink. Informed owner via text MSG and email to send someone ASAP orelse it might flood the apartment but he didn't respond till evening and then said "I will look at it tommorow". The next day I woke up to see the apartment flooded the kitchen sink, dining hall, laundry room and bathroom are affected with this.

The cause was someone was flushing sanitary napkins down the toilet. Renters insurance said they might not provide me temp housing. My lease ends in November and I have already paid November's rent. Owner didn't drop by to look at it nor sent anyone to look at the property for 8 days since the flooding.
Now sewer line is connected to other apartments - my neighbors and top floor. The tenant from top floor moved out of the apartment.
Owners now blaming me for flushing sanitary napkins down the toilet when I didn't.
He is threading me to take this to legal.

I know I didn't do it. If he takes this to legal can I counter sue him for causing me all these inconveniences and discomfort? Also, for not being cooperative during this time?
Because of him I ended up living in the apartment Partially soaked with sewer water for around two weeks now. He is not letting me go off the lease.
I'm moving out this Friday and have agreed to pay the rent for two months - the time when apt is undergoing repairs.

Any advise? Suggestions? Thanks.

IANAL
Why are you agreeing to pay rent for an apartment that can't be living in when the owner is not paying for alternative living arrangements?

Candace19 said:   I'm moving out this Friday and have agreed to pay the rent for two months - the time when apt is undergoing repairsWhy did you agree to do that ?

Candace19 said:   
The cause was someone was flushing sanitary napkins down the toilet.

I had the same happen to a rental last weekend; my tenant was dumb enough to flush those wipes, but smart enough to call the rooter.
Problem solved. I reminded her that a toilet is not a trash can.
She mentioned that the rooter bill was $288, and I acknowledged it and said I was sorry for her expense, but I won't reimburse for it.
I suppose it would've been cheaper had it not been a Sunday.

Still bugs me that adults can be so.. dumb. Hopefully she learnt something.

I just want to get out of this mess hence I agreed to pay the rent and not have to undergo lease breakage with owner. He threatened me about taking to legal if I break the lease. And as it is just two months minus the time when apartment is undergoing repairs, I agreed.

Now after 9 days he is accusing me of something that I didn't do. He refused to pay temp housing. As he was being careless and didn't contact plumber on time and refused to pay for temp housing, what are my options here?

Candace19 said:   My owner lives 3-4hrs distance from the apartment I'm renting from him.

Just in case, it is illegal to own people now a days...

sfvera said:   Candace19 said:   My owner lives 3-4hrs distance from the apartment I'm renting from him.

Just in case, it is illegal to own people now a days...

Depends on where you live....

The landlords in this thread irk me, considering I almost had to drag one to court over the infamous "the ladies are flushing their panties" excuse. First off, some sanitary napkins are completely flushable, they would be no worse than flushing a reasonable amount of toilet tissue. Unless your lease specifically restricts it (which I'm not sure would be legal under "quiet enjoyment" clauses), it is not your fault for flushing something specifically designed to be flushed. If I were Ptieman's tenant, he'd be getting served or we'd be going through rent escrow procedures right now(though I probably could have unclogged a toilet myself).

My bet is that he has absolutely no evidence of anything illicit (you think a plumber is going to fish material out of a sewer line for forensics?), and is threatening you so you don't either A. Attempt to get your rent back, or B. Sue him for damages. The most likely culprit IMO is that the vacant upstairs apartment, via gravity, was providing a bit of a rooter effect for a previous damaged or unmaintained sewer line. Since most of the "action" was occuring on the ground floor since the vacancy, clogs are more likely to occur. Don't let him bully you.

Look up renter laws for your state, and get in touch with the rental authority.
<edit> it doens't look like many PIRGs seem all that interested in rental issues any more, more's the pity.

And regardless, if you paid through November, he can't rent your space out before then without giving you a credit. The space is yours.

Don't pay him.

The property is not habitable. The landlord is legally required to provide a habitable property. This is cause for you to break your lease. You should NOT be paying the landlord rent while he takes his sweet time to eventually fix such a problem.

I don't know if he's threating to sue you cause he actually thinks you did the damage or hes just trying to bully you. (if its the later then it seems its working) If he wants to try and come after you for rent then let him. Let him spend money to try and sue you for it. Go to court and argue your case. You should win.

IANAL. I'd recommend you try and find a local rental advocacy agency for yoru city/state. There are often organizations that will assist renters with disputes.

I'm a landlord myself. I've had a property with water damage, I repaired it as fast as possible (slower than I'd like but as fast as I could). We did not charge the tenant any rent for the month even thought they were only displaced 2-3 weeks.

Owner is now saying that he has proof - pictures and documents. It's not sanity napkins but sanitary wipes or cat wipes.
He is asking for my renters's insurance number to talk to them and wrote an email to me saying - they took the stuff out from my unit and he has proof that it was stuck only in the sewer line of my unit not the main one. If it was from my unit, then how come my neighbor's unit flooded?

He is now pointing to me that I did it and asked me to pay for all the costs.

Tell'm to pound sand. Unless you have some major digestive issues, a reasonably maintained sewer line can handle a few wet wipes a day(not sure what cat wipes are though). Where in the lease does it say what otherwise flushable items shall not be flushed? I still stand by my theory that the pipes are rotting out, and the only thing keeping them open were regular upstairs flushes assisted by gravity.

And I take 1-3 odds that he ain't got a picture of d!ck. Admit no fault, tell you want your money back for future rent and pursue the proper channels for breaking a lease for cause. You never mentioned any sec. dep., have your written that off too?

And if lawsuits are being threatened, it's probably time to find some real, non-interweb help. A lawyer might be out of your price range, so start with free services first (housing commission).

What the hell is a cat wipe?

Crazytree said:   What the hell is a cat wipe?I think your avatar knows

* structural damage is not covered in renters's insurance. It's landlord's responsibility.

Candace19 said:   It's not sanity napkins but sanitary wipes or cat wipesDo you have a kitty ? If so, he is probably targeting you. That is discrimination.

Candace19 said:    Second, if landlord claims that the wipes were only from my unit, it would have not flooded my neighbors apartment same way it did mine.

not following your logic on the flooding, are you saying the unit above you flooded as well? why would it prove which unit it came from if it clogged after it hits the main from your unit.

Candace19 said:   My renters's insurance agent said that any structural damage is that overhead. Also, given two houses were flooded the landlord mostly doesn't has a ground/solid proof.
There are 3 units attached. Anyone could have done it. Firstly, I din't flush any sanitary wipes. Second, if landlord claims that the wipes were only from my unit, it would have not flooded my neighbors apartment same way it did mine.

Now, I have been living there for over two years now. His accusation is just to get money from me.

You only stated you didn't flush sanitary wipes/

Did you put ANY kind of wipes- cat wipes, baby wipes ANY wipes into the sewer system? You need to be very clear about this.

Also don't let your renters insurance agent talk you out of a claim. If you put ANY kind of wipes or material that isn't toilet paper into the sewer, give your landlord your insurance info and let them settle or deny the claim.

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   If you put ANY kind of wipes or material that isn't toilet paper into the sewer, give your landlord your insurance info and let them settle or deny the claim.
If she flushed flushable wipes, I still think she should stand her ground.

Cleaning wipes 'blocking drains'
Water companies in England and Wales say they're getting hundreds of call-outs a day to deal with wet wipes blocking up drains.

They say the public needs to be educated into throwing away things like baby and make-up remover wipes rather than trying to flush them away.

uutxs said:   
What makes you think OP is a "foreign girl"?

Foreign is quite certain due to her English (uneducated native speakers make different kinds of mistakes). "Girl" is not certain, it is just based on how scared of the landlord she sounds.
In any case, it is someone who can be easily bullied and/or does not know their rights, and the landlord seems to be taking advantage of that.