Some landlords treat their properties like cash machines and their responsibilities like optional extras.

In this story, a downstairs renter was forced to endure a constant leaking toilet from his upstairs neighbor, one that had already destroyed multiple floors of the building.

He found himself stuck in a frustrating loop, going back and forth with specialists and plumbers, only for the landlord to continuously evade responsibility.

So when the renter lost his patience, he decided to take his concerns to the next building meeting and suggest an extreme way to get the landlord’s attention.

Read on to find out what happened next.

Revenge on negligent neighbor who wouldn’t fix his leaks

I live in a flat on the 3rd floor.

For some months we’ve been having to deal with a water leak from a pipe belonging to our neighbor from upstairs, and not just us, since the leak was also affecting the walls from lower floors, turning them black and all.

The living situation up there is a bit odd, so the renters tried to be as communicative as possible.

Our upstairs neighbors don’t reside in the flat. They used it to speculate, so they are renting it to some people who don’t seem to be aware of the leak.

We talked to these neighbors so that they would contact their insurance and ask for a specialist so that he would evaluate and write a report about what was going on.

The one this couple sent said it was actually an issue the community had to atone for.

But getting the community involved only made things worse.

The mess started when the community sent another specialist that said it was actually the responsibility of the owner of the flat, this pair of speculators.

We also called in a plumber who corroborated this last version.

In fact, we could all see that the leak was coming from the toilet of our upstairs neighbor who, despite being present, still chose to be in denial.

So the woes continued as they worked towards fixing the issue.

They sent the same specialist that he called the first time so that he could once again say it was the responsibility of the community to pay for the repairs.

We tried talking sense into him, and it did not work.

So we took a rather radical step.

Two weeks ago, we went to a neighbor meeting, which we knew these negligent neighbors wouldn’t attend since they don’t care about the issues of our building as long as their flat gives them money.

They had a rather unorthodox idea.

In the meeting, we alongside the neighbor of the 2nd floor suggested we should cut the water supply for the 4th-floor flat so that the leaks would stop harming our properties until it was fixed.

The approval was unanimous.

So, once the meeting ended, the water for the flat with the leaks was cut. The plan was finally set in motion.

This was very effective in finally getting these peoples’ attention.

It wasn’t long until we heard the renters complain.

They came to us seeking to know what was going on, and we did tell them about the leak and that their landlords were evading the responsibility, and that according to law all complaints should be directed to them.

The renters were very understanding and acknowledged the situation well, then proceeded to talk to their landlord and threaten him with a sue.

Of course, the landlord could have also sued the community, but we all knew if they did that, the process would not only be slow, but would also reveal their negligence.

So now the landlord was right where these renters wanted him.

So they were forced to now send another specialist that supported the claims made from the community and us, and filled in a report saying that the responsibility was solely from the owner of the flat with the leaks.

Of course, we restored the water supply as soon as the renters acknowledged the situation.

They just got caught in the crossfire and had no fault.

And also, our upstairs neighbors have blocked us on their phones as well.

What a saga.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a neighbor who got fed up enough to have 15 neighbor’s cars towed at once.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

This user believes these renters had every right to escalate the issue.

In fact, this user would have lawyered up a lot sooner.

Mold is a huge concern for water leaks that go on for too long.

This user offers some stern advice.

Months of water damage, multiple specialists, contradictory reports, and a landlord who kept finding new people to blame — all of it resolved the moment the renter stopped asking nicely and started taking drastic action.

All things considered, the renters caught in the middle handled it with grace, but everyone has their breaking point. This story showed that when you funnel your frustration at the right person, things start clicking into place a lot faster.

The leak was this landlord’s problem all along — it just took an empty pipe to make him admit it.