Impatient Tenant
I have a tenant whos refrigerator died thursday night. He left me a message thursday evening, say 7pm, and i didnt receive the message until 11pm. Friday morning, he leaves me a message saying that he can’t wait to hear from me regarding the matter, and that he is going to go to HomeDepot later…
I have a tenant whos refrigerator died thursday night. He left me a message thursday evening, say 7pm, and i didnt receive the message until 11pm. Friday morning, he leaves me a message saying that he can’t wait to hear from me regarding the matter, and that he is going to go to HomeDepot later that afternoon and pick up a fridge himself, and that he will deduct the cost from this months rent. I get the message sometime around 2pm and try to call him before he tries to make the purchase. He winds up buying a refrigerator that costs $600! Which is a considerable figure considering I had one picked out for less than $400, and what he was replacing was a basic, bare minimum unit. Tonight, I get his rent check minus $700, which includes the cost of the fridge, tax, and delivery.
In a situation like this, am i responsible for the entire cost of his appliance considering the difference of what I would have purchased? Is it unreasonable to only reimburse him $400 and try to collect? Any advice is much appreciated
There’s something I’m having a hard time with in general, and here, specifically. I am a landlord with 2 tenants. I need those tenants in order to help me pay my mortgage, heating bill, etc, etc. I also need them to be responsible tenants, respectful of my property. I want them to be happy living in my home, and satisfied with their conditions, for which they pay me good money.
With that in mind, I tried to get the best appliances that I could on my budget. I had to buy refrigerators for both apartments in the last 4 years, and I bought decent, mid priced units. Nothing fancy, but good, name brand refrigerators. I don’t understand the attitude of people like andre who seem to have such contempt for their tenants that they have no problem giving them any old reconditioned POS, as long as it worked. Seems to me if you want good tenants who treat your property with respect, you respect them in turn and provide them with decent equipment. Many people on this board talk about their tenants like they are only one step above rats and roaches.
I think the renter in this case jumped the gun, but as many people said, the landlord did not return any calls in a timely manner. And, as someone with not a lot of time, and no car, the tenant getting the new fridge and having it delivered, etc, would be worth the extra money to me. I would have a talk with them, and not have them do that again, but then move on.
The fridge your tenant bought is his/her fridge and they can keep it or return it or use it as a doorstop or a coffee table or a closet for all you should care.
The fact is they did not give you reasonable time to remedy the problem and they did not pay their rent in full. You should start eviction proceedings right away.
Buy the $400 fridge you planned to so you are acting in good faith and in accordance with the law and let them worry about their $600 fridge.
I didn’t want to inspire a landlord pile-on. I wish this landlord good luck; it isn’t easy sometimes. We learn as we go along. You’ll work it out. Keep the faith.
While the tenant was somewhat hasty, you definitely waited too long to respond. You should really have responded as soon as you got the call Thursday night. Waiting until Friday afternoon to respond is too late – would you even have responded then if the tenant had not said they were going to make a purchase on their own?
why not? it’s a bottom of the line fridge for a rental unit.
i know you are trying to sound too cool for HD, but this was a perfectly acceptable time to go to HD.
Who even buys refridgerators from Home Depot?
he could have avoided the whole thing if he had just called the tenant back first thing in the morning. i’m a landlord, but i’ve been a tenant too. i’ve had landlords like this who don’t rate tenant issues on the same level as their own lives (how would the OP like to have a broken fridge and no notion if it would be fixed any time soon?)
Sounds like the tenant had a crappy old refrigerator and feared that the LL was going to replace it with another crappy old refrigerator — with good reason, it seems. Nonworking refrigerator plus unresponsive landlord — good for the tenant for solving the problem.
I remember during the blackout a couple of years ago, my fridge went out (just like everyone else’s). This was in the summer, people! When it was HOT outside! Funny thing was, nothing in my fridge spoiled because I did not open it…even though it was at least 90 degrees in my apartment. Yeah, having a fridge that works is important but vital? I don’t think so. It sounds to me like the tenant jumped the gun here and the landlord acted responsibly. I can only guess that the folks who are trashing the OP here are renters who’ve had bad experiences in the past.