I know this is not the best community for this, but you folks seem to know a lot about renting laws. If there is a better community you can direct me to, please do
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My parent's house had the sewage backing up problem, tho in their case it backed up through the basement laundry room drain. Get a BIG rubber stopper. When not using the tub, keep the stopper in, weighted down with a shampoo bottle or something if needed. It doesn't SOLVE the problem, but it prevents sewage in your bathtub. Also, when this problem was happen at my parent's house, it was because tree roots had grown into the pipe that ran from the house to the sewer.
No matter what the circumstance, one should NEVER withhold rent during a landlord dispute. You can place it in an escrow account and have it held there until the problem is fixed (contact your local government to find out how to do this in your area), but you can't arbitrarily decide to withhold rent without all sorts of legal troubles.
From my previous experiences, it sounds like either roots in the pipes or a septic tank issue. If there is a septic tank, there is a small possibility that it could be fixed by using some rid-x. If you have a septic tank, rid-x won't harm anything by trying it. This should help you figure out if you are on sewer or a septic system http://www.inspectapedia.com/septic/septankfind.htm
Of course, I could be completely wrong. Good luck!
I second the opinions of calling the public health board, and would heavily recommend getting the process started tomorrow. Even if they can't actually do much until Monday, the fact that you'd be showing that you just could not take two more days of this may end up working in your favor later (it's also possible that they could question why you waited until Monday, if you do). At the very least, they should be able to give you accurate details of your rights and obligations in this process, including the landlord's obligation. I would not call a plumber myself until I was positive of how this process works, just to be sure of how you're able to recoup your costs. It may take some digging to find an off-hours number, but there should be one somewhere.
Good luck - I've had something similar happen before (thankfully, not the toilet pipes), and it ended up being a giant wet, smelly mess to deal with for weeks. I ended up being moved out, and the apartment was gutted.
I had the same problem in an apartment once, living on the ground floor. After a few times of the bathtub filling up, eventually the toilet overflowed and filled the entire bathroom. I called an emergency plumber since I couldn't reach my landlord and it turned out to be someone flushing stuff like pads and washcloths down the toilet. In my case, the landlord came while the plumber was still working and paid the plumber, but I had a good landlord. I hope things don't get to the overflowing point for you before your landlord fixes it :\
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Also, when this problem was happen at my parent's house, it was because tree roots had grown into the pipe that ran from the house to the sewer.
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Of course, I could be completely wrong. Good luck!
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Good luck - I've had something similar happen before (thankfully, not the toilet pipes), and it ended up being a giant wet, smelly mess to deal with for weeks. I ended up being moved out, and the apartment was gutted.
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