Landlord Tells Us To Pay Half For Plumbing Repairs, Can They?
My family leases a commercial building for fast-food use. I am in Ohio (let me know if county/city matters). Recently, we had a new landlord take over the lease with a new lease agreement. The sewage pipe has been leaky since our old landlords but we have never needed to repair, or request a repair (landlord was family then, I want advice on current situation even if old landlord should have fixed it). This is wear and tear damage that occurred throughout the decade. The new landlords have started repairs on the drain (replacing a segment), in which they have to dig through the ground inside our building to access the pipe. Not sure if it matter but hole is about 2ft by 2ft. They also replaced the grease trap. It is about 90% completed as of the time I'm writing this. Soon after the work was started though, they told us to pay 50% of the cost of repairs, although we have not given a response regarding it yet. Under our lease, the landlord is responsible for "repairs, maintenance, and replacements related to major plumbing systems" within the premise. It listed "sewer lines" and "backflow prevention devices" as part of "major plumbing systems". Under the lease, we are responsible for minor repairs/maintenance such as changing lights, unclogging drains, etc. We are also responsible for minor plumbing repairs that don't fall under the category of major plumbing repairs. It lists "leaky faucets", "clogged drains", and "replacing washers/seals" as part of minor repairs. The reason given for requiring us to pay half is because the issue with the plumbing was there before the building was purchased by them. I'm also not sure if I can apply landlord-tenant law since we're not residential.
Are we required to pay half for the repairs or can they force us to? If not, are there any tenant laws we can cite in our response? Does this fall under major plumbing repairs or does the statements on our lease regarding this apply? Thank you for your time.
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