Tenant complaint - suggestions for responding back

Tenant complaint - suggestions for responding back

Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 61 posts · 13 votes

Hello to experienced landlords,  I just had my first turnover in the duplex and I got following complaint from the tenant. I would appreciate how best to respond to this.  Can this be trouble if I just tell them that they inspected the place before signing the lease? Is there any law for minimum width for stairway? 

"A huge issue that we had moving in was learning that the box springs for our beds will not fit up the stairway- not even the smaller size for kids beds. Had I known this, I would not have applied to rent for this house. Leo had to design custom platforms, purchase and cut the lumber, take it up to the designated bedroom and build all of us new mattress supports. This was an ordeal, to say the least. I feel that this is something we should be compensated for- at the very least, we should be reimbursed for the materials we had to purchase. (I will provide receipts to show the cost of the lumber, etc.) It took Leo two hours to put together each bed- and that is not taking into consideration the time it took him to measure, design, and make multiple trips to the hardware store. I think it's safe to say that most people would not have had the skills or backround required to make such adjustments, in order to live in this house. That staircase is definitely not up to code.  "

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Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
10y

" Sorry you were inconvienced ,  there is a new tool called a tape measure , if you had any doubt  things would fit , you could have measured .  Older homes were built to the code at that time  "     We are not responsible for your choice in furniture .  As far as any compensation , plain and simple ................NO .     

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  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    I'm not sure why a couple people think you should rebuild your staircase. That's ridiculous. It is most likely built to "code" of the year it was built. And what if this staircase is enclosed with walls on each side? There's no way you're even considering rebuilding that staircase.

    How did your previous tenants move in/out?

    I also agree with others that you should not just jump to make them happy. They sound to me like they're already testing you, yet I landlord in the type of place where people will more likely not be honest than they'll be honest, so call me jaded.

  • Investor · East Amherst, NY · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 18 votes
    10y

    Rest asured somehow someway people have been moving furrniture up there for 53 years . now all of a sudden you have to reengineer your house to suit these people. don't put up with there crap.

  • Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    10y

    Growing up in Balto in the 1960's  both me and my brother had a bedroom in the finished attic , you had to go thru my parents room to get up there . ( and somehow they had 2 more kids) The door was narrow , beds had to be pulled up and thru a window . There was no heat , so we slept in sleeping bags . there was no insulation , but dad added it later .  It was a slate roof , candles would melt in the summer , we did have a window unit , but only turned it on at night after the fan ran in the other window .     IT WAS A GREAT BEDROOM , we LOVED it .   We even had ropes with knots tied on it to escape in case of a fire , ( and of course a 9 and 10 year old boy would test to see how it worked ) 

  • Investor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 61 posts · 13 votes
    10y

    Thanks all for your comments. I believe the conclusion is that I do not have to update the stairs as per current code unless I am making any structural changes to the property as part of renovation. I have plainly replied to the tenants that I am sorry for inconvenience and I will take care of issues which they raised like broken sprinkler, missing light

    Other comments on questions on this forum

    - Of course, my previous tenants had beds upstairs but I never heard anything from them while moving out (they were already in place when I bought the property last year). I do not know if they had to unassemble the beds while moving down. They did spend a good 5 days to move out though, so they were anyways vacating in bits and pieces.

    - For people speculating about the type of stairs, I am attaching a picture below.

  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    10y

    Interesting,  we have a similar issue with a staircase in a 1.5 story cape.  It is what it is and the last tenant just had to have  to use the first floor bedroom for their king bed. Smaller beds will fit up but not without a split box spring.    I don't see that a twin would not go up your stairs, I am guessing the kids may have full/double beds, I would just say that measuring is their responsibility and how can you be responsible for knowing if their furniture would fit.  (The spindle width is probably good to fix for liability reasons.)

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