I moved into my apartment in June. When me and my roommate moved in, we were told that the floors were new and that there were no issues with the apartment. Then at the beginning of August the apartment below us had water seep through their ceiling, worse yet it was coming from the toilet in my bathroom. My landlord had a plumber come in, and replace the toilet, however the plumber stated that this was a temporary fix and that he would have to come back and finish the repair. This is were the horror for this story occurred because for 4 months straight the toilet stayed there broken. Specifically the flap that holds the water for the tank was too small, and the water ran in the toilet 24 hours a day. The landlord red herring or ignored all of are attempts to get the plumber back, mind you the land lord lives above us so we told him at least once a day. December rolls around and all of a sudden I get a knock at my door at 7am, it's a new plumber, and my landlord. The new plumber installs a new toilet, and says not only was the flapper the wrong size, but the wax ring was too big for the bottom of the toilet. He also informs me and my roommate that both our hot and cold water lines are supplying the laundry room, which all three floors use. After finishing the repairs the landlord says we have an issue, and shows me the water bill for Aug to October, $1400/for supposedly 128,000 gallons used! And even more uplifting news, he states were going to wait for the 2nd bill to come in so we can pay everything off in 3rds. Well new bill came in yesterday, November to January $1500 for 145,000 gallons. It says in our lease that we are responsible for water, but it also says all pluming matters are to be handled by the landlord and are not to be touched by the renters. Because the issue is clearly the toilet running and due to his negligence in repairing the issue is there any legal way that my roommate and I don't have to pay? The apartment is located in Newport Rhode Island, 02840.

If I were in your position I would write a letter informing him that you're paying him the same amount for water that you paid for the month before the toilet broke, since he is responsible for plumbing repairs. Make sure that you hand-deliver the letter. Then let him sue you for the additional amount. If he sues he'll have to explain to a judge why you should be responsible for paying that amount when it was his fault.