Odd wiring hook up, do I fix?

[Bradley Sainsbury]

Good day,

I’ve owned one rental (and my first) in Baltimore for a little over a year. Both bedrooms have an interesting electrical set up. There are ceiling can lights and also a fan/light combo, but it is all hooked up to one switch. So you aren’t able to run the fan without the can lights on. 

Prior to renting to my first tenants last year, a contractor said it will cost about $2k to rewire this as they need to open some drywall to run some new wires and then fix all that. 

First tenants never mentioned this as an issue. Second tenant did not like the setup so I offered a few options to resolve the situation and we settled on that I would buy an Amazon Alexa for each bedroom and smart lights, that way the tenant could just tell Alexa to turn off the ceiling lights, cost was under $150. 

Well this tenant moves out after two weeks, unrelated to the lighting situation. My next tenants won’t be moving in until 9/1. So I have a month to decide, how do I proceed with the situation? Do I get it fixed the right way? The previous renter didn’t leave the Alexa’s and lights, of course, but was charged for them so I’m not out any money on them at the moment, so do I just buy that set up again?

Any help and insight is appreciated. Thanks in advanced. 

[Sergey A. Petrov]

What is wrong with taking out the fan/light combo completely and covering the hole with a plastic cover?  Your tenants can purchase a free standing fan that plugs into an outlet and comes with a remote.