# A house rental question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 15, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126 "2009-09-15T01:53:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126/1 "2009-09-15T01:53:08Z")

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If you were renting a house, say, from Carnivorousplant, and said benevolent landlord paid for plumbers to unstick the sink a couple of times, and you, say, accidentally spilled a bag of rice down the drain, and, say, CP paid a plumber to unstick the drainpipe from the cleanout on the back porch…would you expect to be billed for the plumber?

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**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126/2 "2009-09-15T02:03:18Z")

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For normal wear and tear stuff- leaky pipe, backed up toilet/sink, no I would not. But if I did something to cause it, even by accident, yes I would expect to be billed for it. FWIW, I’ve been renting a house for about the past 10 years or so.

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126/3 "2009-09-15T02:05:08Z")

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Something like that? Oh yes, definitely. Regular “pipes are kind of old and the drains run slow now and then”? No. Basically, ditto on **BoBettie** , down to being a long-time house renter.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-house-rental-question/510126/4 "2009-09-15T02:58:23Z")

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Cool, you renew my faith in humanity.  
Er, Tenants.