Hi, We just recently bought a 8' by 30" pool for our back yard. We filled the pool up. About 3 days later our one of our landlords (we have 3) came over and went in the basement and cut the pipe to the outside water faucet in half. Now we have no water outside at all. We can't water flowers, garden, wash cars, or even fill up the kiddie pool. My youngest daughter is only 2 and scared of the big pool. She likes the little one. Now the landlord came over when all of the tenants were in the backyard, and cut the pipe. He did not tell anyone what he was doing. He just did it and left. We pay rent and the cold water is included in the rent. We pay for our hot water. Does he have a right to cut off the water to the outside? We live in Massachusetts. Please help??

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Originally Posted by Nnitole12178

Hi, We just recently bought a 8' by 30" pool for our back yard. We filled the pool up. About 3 days later our one of our landlords (we have 3) came over and went in the basement and cut the pipe to the outside water faucet in half. Now we have no water outside at all. We can't water flowers, garden, wash cars, or even fill up the kiddie pool. My youngest daughter is only 2 and scared of the big pool. She likes the little one. Now the landlord came over when all of the tenants were in the backyard, and cut the pipe. He did not tell anyone what he was doing. he just did it and left. We pay rent and the cold water is included in the rent. We pay for our hot water. Does he have a right to cut off the water to the outside? We live in Massachusetts. Please help?????????

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If there is no provision concerning outside pools, excessive water usage, no, the landlord cannot. If nothing else this could be a hazard in the event of a fire.

I would send him/her a certified letter that the water has been shut off and you want it back on. I'd ask why - ? Offer to pay any exess usage fees.

I would also be prepared to be evicted if he feels he is paying too much for water and doesn't want to strike a deal with you.

Hello N:

I think you're asking the wrong question...

I have a lot of questions for you first, like is this a HOUSE or an apartment complex? Is the basement YOUR basement, as in part of your rental as spelled out in the lease/rental agreement?

But all that is moot right now. He may have, and probably did violate a few provisions of your agreement AND your state landlord/tenant law. But, the fact is, he DID do those things, and the question is what are YOU going to do about it?

Rather, the question should be what do you WANT to do about it? Do you want to force him to repair the pipe to where it was? Do you want to leave? Do you have a lease? Do you want to continue to rent from a guy who does this to you??

Even if you can force him to put it back, he's going to throw you out at his earliest opportunity. And, it's going to be time consuming, troublesome, and going to cost some money in order for you to force the issue...

Nahhh, if it were me, I'd be looking for other lodging. If you have a lease, depending on what it says, and the answers to my questions, you should be able to break it fairly easily. Actually, it looks like HE broke it, and all you'll be doing is responding.

But, you let us know what you want to do, and we'll guide you through it.

excon

Lets look at this from the landlord's point of view. Did you ask if you could put in the pool? You refer to your backyard, but what type of complex is it? Is it truly your yard or common area?

I think there was wrongdoing on both parts. You should have asked for permission to setup the pool offering to pay a surcharge for the extra water usage. The landlord should not have cut the pipe, but was potentitally within his rights to cut off water to the outside of the unit. Its his grass that will suffer.

Who pays for the water? The landlord? If he pays for the water and just saw your pool I am sure he hit the ceiling before he got the water bill. Did you mean 8'X30' or 8'X30inches. Huge difference here. If it was 30 FEET then I am sure he would be very upset with a huge water bill. I would send him a letter and tell him that YOU are willing to pay whatever water bill your pool's use caused. The fact he cut the water pipe means he was very very upset and didn't even want to discuss the situation with you. Just a king size waterbed uses a LOT of water to fill it up. You may have your tenancy terminated due to the pool issue if they can figure out a way to terminate it earily.

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

Who pays for the water? The landlord? ... Did you mean 8'X30' or 8'X30inches.

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The OP said that water is included in the rent so its not metered.

She said 8'x30". This would indicate and 8 foot diameter pool with a height of 30". But such a pool would put a dent in the water bill and I can understand a landlord being upset that this was setup without asking permission.

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

The OP said that water is included in the rent so its not metered.

She said 8'x30". This would indicate and 8 foot diameter pool with a height of 30". But such a pool would put a dent in the water bill and I can understand a landlord being upset that this was setup without asking permission.

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And it could be the question of liability and liability insurance - only way to know is to ask the landlord.

And, as others have said - apartment? Single family? Duplex?

I don't know how it is in other parts of the country but I pay so many $ up to a certain number of gallons and then it jumps to a higher rate for the next certain number and so forth - it can really add up.

The water is probably metered but not metered for each tenant and the landlord has to pay for all water usage is what I meant to say. And the landlord was not happy seeing all his water money squandered on a pool. Also, if his water usage and sewer usage are on the same bill (as it usually is) his sewer bill went up also.

I'm a bit surprised that the landlord didn't just ask you to remove the pool and pay him for the water used. On the other hand, if you put the pool in without permission, he may not trust you to keep your word, and thus decided that removing access to water was the better option.

According to some quick googling, an 8' x 16" pool holds 565 gallons, so this one is holding somewhere around 1100 gallons of water. That's a huge increase for the landlord. And there's the liability issues, and the fact that it's going to kill the grass under it, and that that's not just a one-time fill-up. So, if he lets you keep the pool, be prepared for some hefty fees when you move out to restore the landscaping, and an increase in your insurance to cover the liability.

I actually thought of another problem with this pool... what do you do with all the water in it if he does ask you to remove it? You can't just dump that much water in the yard without doing some damage.

I am still confused on the phase " all the tennants were in the back yard" what sort of buiding is this,

I posted this question. First of all I have lived here for 8 years. There is 3 landlords. 2 of them are Extremely nice. 1 of them is just a jerk. Always walking around like he has a stick up his butt. He is the one who cut the pipe. I live in an apartment building. There is 3 apartments. The pool only holds 538 gallons of water. That is what instruction manual states. I was just curious if he had legal right to just cut pipe without informing any of tenants. And I also do not believe he informed the other landlords that he did this. But when me or the other tenants try to talk to one of the other landlords, the one who did this is right by their side and you can't say anything. I will talk to landlord sometime next week.

Hello again, N:

I STILL don't know what you want to DO about it?? Do you want him to put the pipe BACK?? Do you want to give notice?? What?? A little feedback would be helpful, here.

Look, it's HIS building. It's HIS basement. It's HIS water. It's HIS pipe. They're HIS flowers. You have a right to water IN your apartment. You have NO right to water in your back yard. He can cut HIS pipe anytime he wants, and NO, he DOES NOT have to inform you.

excon

First of all. It is his building, yes. The flowers are mine. EXCON. The landlord never cared before what we did. Like I said before it is just one of the landlords. The building is a three story building on a dead end street. When I say all the tenantswere in the backyard I mean we were all hanging out in the backyard. All the kids were playing out back. I am not giving notice. And the landlord does not want me out. One of the landlords even said this week he does not ever want me to leave. He likes me living here.

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Originally Posted by Nnitole12178

First of all. It is his building, yes. The flowers are mine. EXCON. The landlord never cared before what we did. Like I said before it is just one of the landlords. The building is a three story building on a dead end street. When I say all the tenantswere in the backyard I mean we were all hanging out in the backyard. All the kids were playing out back. I am not giving notice. And the landlord does not want me out. One of the landlords even said this week he does not ever want me to leave. He likes me living here.

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The question is - is this a single family, a two family, a multiple dwelling - ?

The landlord likes you living there but cuts off the water? What does he do to tenants he DOESN'T like - ?

I am very sorry. Nobody is getting what I am saying. I am just asking if it is legal for him to do this. Not for everyone to ask me a bunch of questions. Sorry. Thank you for all the answers and all your time. I appreciate it. It is a multifamily home. 3 family's, 3 story building

As long as the waterpipe doesn't go to an apartment, I think that he is within his rights to cut it. It's his property, he can do what he wants with it.

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Originally Posted by Nnitole12178

I am very sorry. Nobody is getting what I am saying

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Hello again, N:

Actually, we all get it pretty good. It's YOU who isn't getting it.

The law is very precise. You're NOT. That's why we needed to ask questions.

A good example of your inprecision, is that you wanted to know above, if it's legal for him to do that... Earlier, you wanted to know it it's legal for him to do that WITHOUT informing anybody. Those are TWO different questions.

Entering YOUR basement, in a home YOU rent without permission, is VERY different than going into his OWN basement in his OWN apartment building.

I know you don't understand these distinctions... But WE DO. Your attitude toward us, who are trying to help, does't bode well you. I hope you've gotten what you came for, but I'll bet not, cause I can't tell what you wanted in the first place. You NEVER did attempt to help ME to help YOU by answering MY questions.

excon

Hello excon,

Yes I did answer your questions. I am going to continue living here. I like living here. Yes it is his building. I can not force him to fix it. I am willing to compensate him for the extra water usage to fill up my pool. But like I had said before there are 3 different landlords. And all of the tenants in this 3 apartments building believe that 1 of them cut the pipe without the other landlords knowledge. I did say thank you for everyone's help and appreciate everyone's feedback.

Hello again, N:

Sometimes people come here and ask, "can he do that?"... We answer that he can't...

Then I wonder what those people are going to do with THAT answer. Are they going to walk up to this guy and say, "Hey, you can't do that - it's against the law!". Do you think that if they did, it would work?? I don't think it would.

So, there's really TWO parts to peoples legal questions, 1) what's the law, and 2) what to DO about it.

I STILL don't know what you're going to do. You don't either. What?? You're going to talk to one of the landlords and complain about the other one?? Is THAT going to get your pipe fixed?? You say, "I can't force him" to fix it. But had you answered the questions posed to you, I'll bet we could find a way for you to DO THAT VERY THING - FORCE THEM! I don't like to play nicy nice!

Nope, you have no idea HOW to handle your situation from this point forward, and when WE make some attempt to HELP in that regard, you think we're bothersome. You just want us to answer your questions and don't get nosey.

So, when you go to the other landlord and complain, and the other landlord tells you that HE supports his partner, then you're going to think those people at AskMe didn't help me at all. But, here we are, just begging to help...

I ain't helping you no more, though. I'm done.

excon

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Originally Posted by Nnitole12178

Hello excon,

Yes I did answer your questions. I am going to continue living here. I like living here. Yes it is his building. I can not force him to fix it. I am willing to compensate him for the extra water usage to fill up my pool. But like I had said before there are 3 different landlords. And all of the tenants in this 3 apartments building believe that 1 of them cut the pipe without the other landlords knowledge. I did say thank you for everyone's help and appreciate everyone's feedback.

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OK, this is the legal board - are you are aware of your liability/responsibility if someone is hurt (or worse!) in this pool.

And is your landlord?

First, you need to understand, as excon pointed out, that law is very precise. We did give you the best answer we could initially, that a landlord has the right to do anything that doesn't affect the living conditions of the tenants in their apartments.

But your situation is more complex than that and it required more info to be sure we were giving the correct advice.

Also, on a board like this, we try to provide, not only the answer to the specific question asked, but a solution to the problem. Sometimes that can mean asking for more info.

Just to make sure we understand the whole situation you live in a 3 unit building. Are all the units tenant occupied or is any owner occupied? You say there are three landlords. Is the title to the property listed to three indivduals, or how are there three landlords? Is the basement part of any one unit or common property? Do the tenants have express permission to use the backyard?

I have talked to one of the landlords and he did not know that the other landlord had cut the pipe. It is all taken care of. Thank you for your help.