I’m reading the lease for the apartment I want to move into and I come across this clause:
Tenant is responsible for all plumbing repairs including faucets, leaks, stopped up pipes, frozen pipes, water damage, and bathroom caulking.
Surely this is illegal right? Like if I sign this lease I’m not gonna have to pay for water damage on a house I don’t own. I’m leaning towards not signing the lease but lmk if this is a slam dunk obvious example of an illegal clause that would get thrown out in court
uhhh whats the point of the landlord then if you are responsible for that shit lol
Bring it up and try to get them to strike the clause, waste their time when they make a big stink about it, then find another place anyways because you don't want to be in any sort of contractual relationship with these people.
Don't sign the lease. Very likely it can be upheld (depending on the state).
AFAIK, the only thing a tenant is legally responsible for is daily maintenance. ie if you don't clean regularly and everything gets backed up, that's on you.
The line "all plumbing repairs" though is way out of bounds and shouldn't hold up in court because the law supersedes contracts. That doesn't mean it won't, and you probably should see this as a red flag and find another place if possible.
Basically any lease i've signed has had this in it. Be it shitty landlords or even shittier property managers. The red flag might be too broad tbh
In my experience there is insurance against water damage and that insurance is usually held by the owner of the property.
I don't know enough about the law in your state and country. However I know that stuff like that can be very annoying to pursue in court so if you got the money do ask some professional about it.
Where I am from a friend had a problem with the washing machine flooding 3 floors or so and after a few lawyer letters the landlord did take the repairs and costs.
Try searching the internet with these search words:
tenant advocate [state/county/country where you're located]
A few minutes of searching for USA orgs and I got all sorts of hits that seemed kinda okay but nothing that seemed "National".
I wouldn't sign that lease without agreeing to strike the clause
I think this is probably a state-level question and so you might want to find local resources on it.
