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Posted by amy bown on September 07, 1999 at 19:25:47:

I live in a five-apartment dwelling. This morning, the handyman banged on my door at 10 a.m.
and informed my that I cannot use the toilet, kitchen or bathroom sinks, shower or bathtub for at least the entire day.
This extended to all apartments, none of which were given notice.
We weren't allowed even a half hour to take a shower or fill pots with water---he had already taken the plumbing apart.

We can cook, but we can't drain anything--so it's moot. We can't do the dishes.
There's no drinking water since we aren't supposed to have any water going down the drain.
We can't flush the toilet.
I understand repairs need to be made. No problem, if we could have prepared. But we weren't given so much as five minutes.
If I had had a business meeting, I couldn't have showered.
What if one of us were having a dinner party that day?
These are fairly trivial--my friends downstairs have two young kids.
They came home grubby and tired from a Labor Day camping trip only to find
they couldn't even wash up. And you try not having water or the toilet flush with two kids!
Or what if the kids were sick?

There are any number of nightmare scenarios I can think of! Luckily, we're all okay--just
grubby and very teed off.

It is now almost 7 pm, and it's still not fixed-- going on 10 hours.
And seeing this handyman take long lunch and dinner breaks
when none of us can even cook---makes my blood boil. He's not even a professional plumber---
the landlord wants to get off cheap. So god knows how long this will take.
I don't care if he has to work all night or if the landlord has to get a plumber in on triple time,
it WILL get fixed tonight.
But before I go ballistic on the landlord, I want to know what my rights are.

My questions are:

Is the landlord in violation for not giving us notice?
Does this violate habitability--not having water or sanitary bathroom conditions?
What is our recourse? I don't care about suing--I just want to get it fixed right away.

If I don't brush my teeth soon, it won't be pretty!

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Comments:
: I live in a five-apartment dwelling. This morning, the handyman banged on my door at 10 a.m. 
: and informed my that I cannot use the toilet, kitchen or bathroom sinks, shower or bathtub for at least the entire day.
: This extended to all apartments, none of which were given notice. 
: We weren't allowed even a half hour to take a shower or fill pots with water---he had already taken the plumbing apart. 

: We can cook, but we can't drain anything--so it's moot. We can't do the dishes. 
: There's no drinking water since we aren't supposed to have any water going down the drain.
: We can't flush the toilet. 
: I understand repairs need to be made. No problem, if we could have prepared. But we weren't given so much as five minutes. 
: If I had had a business meeting, I couldn't have showered. 
: What if one of us were having a dinner party that day? 
: These are fairly trivial--my friends downstairs have two young kids. 
: They came home grubby and tired from a Labor Day camping trip only to find
: they couldn't even wash up. And you try not having water or the toilet flush with two kids!
: Or what if the kids were sick? 

: There are any number of nightmare scenarios I can think of! Luckily, we're all okay--just 
: grubby and very teed off.

: It is now almost 7 pm, and it's still not fixed-- going on 10 hours. 
: And seeing this handyman take long lunch and dinner breaks
: when none of us can even cook---makes my blood boil. He's not even a professional plumber---
: the landlord wants to get off cheap. So god knows how long this will take.
: I don't care if he has to work all night or if the landlord has to get a plumber in on triple time, 
: it WILL get fixed tonight.
: But before I go ballistic on the landlord, I want to know what my rights are.

: My questions are:

: Is the landlord in violation for not giving us notice? 
: Does this violate habitability--not having water or sanitary bathroom conditions?
: What is our recourse? I don't care about suing--I just want to get it fixed right away.

: If I don't brush my teeth soon, it won't be pretty!


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