Lightning McQueen wrote:Got a friend who noticed water flowing from a pipe leading from her house out to the kerbside gutter, I suggested that she ring the landlord to send someone to inspect it so she doesn't get lumped with a big water bill.
Dude comes out and assures her that there is nothing wrong and she has nothing to worry about, there clearly was a problem as it hadn't rained much and the water must be coming form somewhere.
I checked it out and noticed a noise coming from a water tank and immediately assumed that the float was rooted and that she should get them back to check it out again, they did after another week and came to the same conclusion as me.
Well they fixed it and then she got a $950 water bill for the quarter, she challenged it as she felt that it wasn't her fault so she shouldn't have to pay the whole amount, the landlord has told her that she has to and the case is closed, pretty crap.
She is in two minds now as her lease ends in December and she doesn't want them to turf her out if she takes the matter any further.
FWIW, the receptionist at the agent suggested that she does take it further.
Depends on what's in her residential tenancy agreement, and no surprise the landlord told her to bugger off.
The Residential Tenancies Act has some provisions on water liability, perhaps as a starter it's worth having a look at section 73:
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/rta1995207/s73.htmlAlso, and probably more importantly, under section 68 the landlord has an obligation to repair - "ensure that the premises, and ancillary property, are in a reasonable state of repair at the beginning of the tenancy and will keep them in a reasonable state of repair having regard to their age, character and prospective life."
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/sa/consol_act/rta1995207/s68.htmlPresuming she has responsibility to pay for water under the lease, the argument would be that she shouldn't have to pay an exorbitant water bill that was a direct consequence of the landlord's failure to appropriately maintain the property.