My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Washington

Hi, this is a variation on a question that has been asked previously but with a distinct detail. I happened to walk by the rental and noticed water running out from underneath the door. After notifying the tenant, who was not at home, I entered the apartment and found it flooded with about 2 in of standing water. The cause of the flooding was from a clogged toilet and a faulty toilet tank valve that did not close properly. The tenant had not been home for about 10 hours and the clog must have occcurred right before they left.

  • The plumber determined that there was a clog in the pipe leading out from the toilet. This was before joining any other pipes that could have become clogged from other toilets/drains in the building. So I'm assuming we can be certain the tenant is responsible for the clog.
  • However, the flooding only occurred because the toilet tank valve was faulty. The plumber determined that it got stuck about 50% of the time. However, the tenant claims that he never noticed it to be faulty and never noticed that water would continue to run into the toilet. While it's highly unlikely that the valve became faulty just that day when he happened to clog the toilet, I have no way of proving that it had been faulty beforehand.
  • In any case the tenant never notified me of a faulty toilet, bad valve or clog.


How can liability for the damages be determined in this case? Tenant claims I am liable because the toilet valve was faulty and it is the landlord's duty to make minor repairs. I feel that the valve was almost certainly faulty before that time and the tenant failed to notify me about this, thought I can't prove that. Regardless we know the tenant caused the clog.

Also, as the apartment was unlivable for 2 weeks while repairs were made, is the landloard required to return rent to the tenant for that period? Or if the fault was the tenant's then landlord does not need to reimburse?