Apartment problem. Do I have the right of way? Please help.?

Question

Here's the situation. My GF was on her time of the month and used my restroom in my apartment. she didn't have tampons at the time and used toilet paper instead rolled up like a tampon Temporarily until she got more. well when she used the restroom she took out her makeshift tampon of toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. By doing that the toilet paper made it down and got stuck at the exit hole of the toilet causing it to plug and my toilet to react by a constant overflow of 3-5 mins. It flooded the restroom and got on to my living room carpet soaking a quarter of my studio. When the manager and maintenance guy took apart my toilet they found the paper which looked like a tampon but without string so they said it was a tampon, and I thought it was too. That's until I asked my GF later and looked at the pictures. My managers want to bill the repairs and cleanup on me because they consider it negligence thinking it's a tampon, But the toilet looks already out of date so it .....

Answer 1

You are 'owner' of the apartment and 'your' toilet clogged with excess of normal use.  You will be stuck with the expense.  There are toilets that do not clog as easily as others; it is not mandatory for actual owner to install higher quality.  They must provide workable toilets even if it is the cheapest they can find.

Since your GF originally clogged it, you can ask her to pay for the damages.  But, you will not be able to legally 'force' her to pay anything.

Answer 2

You are supposed to flush tampons.  It is expected.  Since the landlord does not know that this was not a real tampon, it seems you are off the hook.  It'll remain a mystery why it clogged from his perspective, but not anyone's fault.

Answer 3

I disagree.  To me, a tampon, whether homemade or not, is normal use and the toilet should have functioned properly.  Maybe the landlord needs to snake out the pipes so that normal use items don't get caught in them.

Answer 4

The question you're asking is simply, can I get someone else to pay for my negligence (or that of my invited guest).  

The answer is that you are responsible for your actions and for the actions of your invited guests.  You are responsible to pay for all costs flowing from those actions.