*You are not a lawyer, and cannot give legal advice over the internet.
Can someone orally state that they will take care of something, with no discussion of it being on you, and then send a bill?
Scenario: crappy HOA guy. I am an owner-tenant in a condo. My ceiling is leaking, still not fixed despite him constantly assuring me he will get to it. I get the same from plumbing guys. Eventually one comes, decides he knows what’s wrong, removes water from some drainage pan with a shop vac in 10 minutes, leaves, with implication that it’s okay. No information about what’s next.
No word for awhile (meanwhile water heating is screwed up now for 2 weeks in a possibly related issue). I call, HOA says it’s because there is a blockage, might cost me a few hundred to fix because it’s totally not their responsibility. I’m not sure if pipes are owner’s responsibility, and I need to look into that, but that’s not my question, unless anyone knows (laws vary etc.)
I’m more asking about this next part: he says the charge for a quick vac is $80-something. Throughout all of this (several weeks), no discussion that this would be on my head is made, and he has made many assurances that “he’d take care of it.”
tl;dr - am I responsible for a bill for services rendered if no dollar amount nor any indication that it was my responsibility to pay was made? Neither oral nor written.
I’m guessing no. That said though, I’m also guessing this 80-something debit is going to go against your credit score unless you take it to small claims court. So now you have to decide if it’s worth the hassle of going to court.
I assume you mean like an apartment type condo? This may vary from area to area, but basically it can be one of three things:
your responsibility
the condo associations responsibility (of which you are a part of).
another unit owners responsibility
Having served on a condo board - I can say that virtually no one understands the law - and I wouldn’t necessarily take their word on it.
Where I was - your responsibility ended at the drywall. There were some exclusions to this - that were specifically worded in - such as your own HVAC unit and the like.
I know this doesn’t really answer your question, and I’m not sure about when someone says they will take care of it - if it obligates them.
I do know where I was - if the pipes were in the common area - we’d (condo association) - would have taken care of it. Keep in mind that they sort of have a duty to stop stuff like this ASAP - and then figure out whose fault it is later. I tend to think that doesn’t obligate them to anything, but I don’t know. You want the plumber guys to be good at plumbing - not understanding condo docs.
Unless this information had been available to you in writing beforehand, the bill is clearly unenforceable if there was no discussion of price beforehand. Imagine if he said the bill were $500, or $2000. The principle is the same.
To make sure I understand: HOA guy (Fred) sent the plumber (Uriah). Uriah did the work, but Fred is billing you the $80? Because if Uriah is billing you, I’d tell him to submit the invoice to Fred. If Fred is billing you, it would be smarter to look up the rules to see if it is even your responsibility. If not, you can tell him to suck it up (ha!), quoting chapter and verse. If so, then you can argue about having needed the price before hand. Tell him you had planned to pay $20, and he can take it or leave it.
How are you both an owner and a tenant? It seems likely to me, if you’re an owner this could fall under your costs. But if you’re a tenant then it seems to me the owner should reimburse you for the costs.
Welcome to the wonderful world of condominiumliving: all the drawbacks of owning a home PLUS the cons of having an apartment! You own your four walls and the floor between them, but someone/something else controls the rest of the building - usually an “association” of the individual condo owners. Gets messy when dealing with things that are between the walls, like pipes, or that move between units, like water.
OP, check your papers, but also check with your city. Some cities have firm opinions on matters like these that may trump your papers.
Yeah Uriah the plumber (…hit the crapper, the crapper…) probably didn’t know anything about all of that.
I’d rather not pay him at all. He’s already done some shady things I consider theft, plus is a passive-aggressive four year old who selectively ignores emails.
Small claims is always an option, although I worry about the antagonizing involved.