Tenant using Basement Washing Machine for Free

General Landlording & Rental Properties
9yFollow

Tenant using Basement Washing Machine for Free

Mark A.
West Hartford, CT · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 9 votes

Hey all,

I just need somewhere to brain dump.

My tenant moved in about a year ago. I told her that we do not offer any washer or dryers with the unit. 

In the basement of my duplex, I have a washer and dryer in the basement that works intermittently. It'll run but wouldn't clean the clothes or dry it properly so I was in the process of throwing it out.

It turns out that while I've been away, she's been going downstairs to clean her clothes and using the dryer. 

Mind you, she pays all of her own utilities in her unit. The basement however is under my name so I'm covering the electricity being used by the dryer and the water by the washer.

So here's my thought process:

Do I tell her to stop using it? I feel that this will hinder her chances of being a long term tenant. She pays for her own utilities. She will have to go out of her way to go to the laundromat. All in all inconvenient. 

Do I charge her a monthly fee? $10? $20 extra? If so, how do I approach this? I'm not sure how I can word this if the machines themselves aren't running properly.

Do I cut the cord and have the washer and dryer hauled away? I'm not a fan of having to worry about extra maintenance and servicing and worrying about the water/electric bill. It doesn't make sense for me to get a coin op for a duplex financially.

What're your thoughts? I'm in a B+ neighborhood. I feel that if I knew she was going to be using the washer and dryer, I could've gotten a higher rent. Currently she uses the machines downstairs albeit I'm not sure how much. I've gotten the electric bill and the water bills with no noticeable increase. Then again it's the principle that she's using the washer and dryer.

I can't lock the basement because she may need access to it in case of an emergency (power jumps, heater doesn't work, etc)

Am I overthinking this?

Thank you so much.

0Reply
188 views

Most Popular Reply

MIchael Rickerd
Flagstaff, AZ · Member since 2016 · 44 posts · 60 votes
9y

I think you're overthinking this. 25 extra dollars a month to use a washer/dryer seems excessive to me. 

This is a situation were being a penny pinching, 'get all you can' landlord is beaten out by being a human being. She's already paying your mortgage, let her have the faulty washer/dryer in her basement.

9Reply
See this reply in the discussion

41 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Mike CumbieBusiness Member
    REALTOR® · Brockport, NY · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    Well thought one is: Don't go against the wife, especially in favor of another woman :)

    0Reply
  • Jonathan Johnson
    Rental Property Investor · Charleston, WV · Member since 2013 · 262 posts · 109 votes
    9y

    "Hey GoodpayingTenant,

    I just noticed you were using the washer and dryer I have in the basement. I'm actually in the process of selling them, but wanted to offer them to you first since you're such a great tenant. I was going to sell both for about $120 together but if you are able to move them to your apartment I can sell them to you for $40 each. If not, I'll probably be selling them within a month or two and I wanted to give you the heads up in case you need to make arrangements. Think about it and let me know by this Friday, hope you're doing well. Bye."

    3Reply
  • Lisa Hoyt
    Salem, VA · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    "works intermittently" caught my attention...and what my brain turned that into was "fire hazard".  We just went through this with a washer/dryer set that someone gave me to use temporarily until I could figure out what I wanted to buy.  Long story short, both had wiring issues and when I unplugged and moved the dryer I was shocked that we hadn't had a fire. Evidence of smoke/charcoal was on the electrical plate inside the dryer!

    My second thought was she has boundary issues, she is sneaky if she waited until you were away.  This will only be reinforced if you decide to ignore or let her continue to use.  Third thought, (probably running out of thoughts) this is on your dime.  Regardless of whatever else you decide, you are taking on a financial burden.  What if "your" washer or dryer ruins "her" clothes? What is your liability? Or if she falls down the stairs carrying a basket? (different then trying to access emergency switches- she wouldn't be carrying a basket).

    If upgrading her unit could involve washer/dryer outlets for her own appliances, that might be one solution and a reason to up the rent.

    Just my thoughts...

    0Reply
  • Wendy Hoechstetter
    Interior Designer · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2015 · 34 posts · 19 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Mark A.:

     How do you deal with the chance of tenants doing the laundry for everyone they know?

    How do you deal with the chance of tenants letting all of their friends come over and shower and do their dishes?  I mean, you're providing running water for those things, too.

    Yes, she's going to sometimes do her boyfriend's laundry if they spend a lot of time together.  So what?  They'll also do hers at his place at times.  A lot of stuff will also go in single loads, hers and his together.

    And if she's not a low-life dirtbag, she's not going to want an army of people traipsing through her home just to do their wash, nor is she going to be willing to do it herself for them.

    0Reply
  • Dan Krupa
    Real Estate Broker · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2013 · 749 posts · 399 votes
    9y

    Don't nickel and dime them. If you were going to dump them - dump them. Don't tell them just get rid of them. Maybe they thought they were for communal use. However, if you see any other signs of concern - time to dump that tenant.  

    0Reply
  • Jamie Engledow
    Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2015 · 249 posts · 52 votes
    9y

    Personally, I would tell her that pur agreement was no use of the washer and dryer.  But, because I myself would never rent a place that made it neccessary for me to tsle mu clothes to a laundrymat, I would offer her the option that for $25 or $30 additional per month, I will replace the washer and dryer with functional units.

    0Reply
  • Stephane Di Bari
    Real Estate Investor · Châtelet, Wallonie · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 0 votes
    9y

    Hello,

    I have the same situation in a sense, a 4 apartments building with one washing machine and a dryer in basement. 

    You can put a small electric meter on the plug, you will know how much electricity the washer used  this cost little and let you check for "abuse".

    I would not ask her to pay anything, because this would mean you provide a service so when the service break you should fix it.

    Or ask her is she would be interested in you buying a better machine and have her pay for it.

    S.

    0Reply
  • Michael Noto
    Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    @Mark A. Does she know that you know she is using the washer/dryer? If not, I would just continue with your plans to throw it out.  Since it explicitly says in her lease she does not have access to one, she has no leg to stand on.

    0Reply
  • Levi T.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tucson AZ / Nice FR / Washington DC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Mark A.:
    Originally posted by @MIchael Rickerd:

    I think you're overthinking this. 25 extra dollars a month to use a washer/dryer seems excessive to me. 

    This is a situation were being a penny pinching, 'get all you can' landlord is beaten out by being a human being. She's already paying your mortgage, let her have the faulty washer/dryer in her basement.

    I felt the same way. I'm not sure if I'm being a penny pinching greedy guy for charging to use the washer dryer. 

    The only problem is that how will I ever monitor the water and electrical usages of letting her use the washer dryer? What's stopping her from doing her boyfriends laundry?

    Maybe I haven't thought it out yet. I wouldn't want to risk losing a long term tenant but I also don't want to be taken as a fool

     Best options are just to ignore it till it becomes a problem, then you do one of two things, being you remove them, or you replace them with coin operated machines which you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes.

    1Reply
  • Doug Seabury
    Real Estate Agent · Vail, CO · Member since 2017 · 11 posts · 6 votes
    9y

    I would have a conversation with her and be honest with her. Tell her that she started using the washer and dryer without your consent, this will make her feel bad for not asking for permission in the first place. But then say you're ok with her using it, and there's no problem, just as long as she pays extra. I would approach the conversation being calm and very matter of fact. I understand, that situations like these will make any landlord lose their head. Best of luck!

    0Reply
  • Jonathan R McLaughlin
    Rental Property Investor · Boston, Massachusetts (MA) · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    Hi Mark,

    Wow, I think some of this advice is not at all helpful and I think you are on the verge of creating a problem where none exists. 

    I would urge you to not see her as the villain, but this whole thing as a situation arising out of a lack of communication. That takes two people and as the one running a business I'd suggest you may need to own it more than her....

    I'm a former live in landlord of a duplex, turned more hands off commercial investor. I also do some housing court mediation. I see this kind of stuff ALL the time and a mutually good situation is often damaged for so little reason. She is a good tenant, you are a decent landlord, so ask yourself how you got to this point?

    I'd put yourself in her shoes for a moment: she rents a unit in a duplex, (it sounds owner occupied, yes?). In the duplex basement is a working washer and dryer and it sounds like you never had a discussion about it one way or another, and whatever documentation you have doesn't explicitly mention it.

    Isn't it perfectly reasonable for her to think that a basement washer/dryer is included in the overall rent and there for the use of both units? You never said otherwise? Isn't it reasonable for her to think if you took it away you would be diminishing her quality of life for the same rent? You may not have made the same assumptions but everybody fills a vacumn differently. She isn't thinking about your business and likely has no idea you feel you have a case for resentment.

    You say it works "intermittently" and you never thought about it. What makes you think this was on her mind at all. She moved into a place with a working washer and dryer there for use. If you charge her she would see it as raising her rent, if you take it away she gets less for the money. I can even see her being quietly resentful that it doesn't work well--why doesn't the landlord take care of this place? 

    Is she right? Are you right? Does it matter?  You don't have to assume she is an unreasonable person. If you assume she is being reasonable (in her own eyes) would this alter your actions and your "don't want to be taken as a fool" perspective? 

    So thats the mediator in me and I hope that stuff is useful to reflect on as you decide on your own course of action.  You have the right to do anything you want subject to your lease and laws, of course. As smart people on this forum have said: "do you want to be right or rich?"

    My own opinion FWIW is that you would be well served to keep as is, especially if you live there and she is a good long term potential tenant. You could of course go and say the water and electric usage is eating into your budget and you need to up the rent by $5-10 to cover it (if she is month to month). I would personally just factor it in for a rental increase at a natural cycle and see it as a feature of your rental. 

    Good luck, would love to hear the outcome.

    Jon

    1Reply
  • Jonathan R McLaughlin
    Rental Property Investor · Boston, Massachusetts (MA) · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    Woops, that was a long post to misread a situation! My error not to catch the "I said we do not provide washer dryers with the unit"--still some ambiguity there as written but if she was waiting till you were away thats is a different scenario.

    My apologies to all and I hope the post is still useful as a thought experiment for landlord tenant communication.

    My own actions would probably go along the lines of the previous posters of offering to allow her to do laundry and do new (maybe used) machine for $25 or so amount in rent, laying out conditions of use. You would make it back pretty quick and if its a decent neighborhood its definitely a draw.

    0Reply
  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    My thoughts are you seem extremely cheap. You have to be kidding me. The electric bill probably costs you a cup of coffee. 

    [email protected]732-289-3823
    0Reply
  • Lisa Hoyt
    Salem, VA · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    Wow, Peter, harsh...old, inefficient, intermittent dryers can be electricity sucks and fire hazards!  But my new thought is this:  Simply say, hey, FYI, I finally got "Tom" to remove the washer and dryer from the basement.  Didn't want you frightened to see a stranger hauling out appliances. Completely evades the subject, but you are a little wiser that she might not always play by the rules...

    0Reply
  • Marcus Johnson
    Investor · Saint Paul, MN · Member since 2015 · 663 posts · 512 votes
    9y
    Mark A. Easy, I keep a spreadsheet of their water usage and I screen my tenants well. I know the average water usage and should it spike I will address the issue. One time it was a running toilet that needed fixing. Also, gas and electricity is paid by the tenant.
    0Reply
  • Jerome KaidorPro Member
    Investor · Hayward, CA · Member since 2013 · 122 posts · 65 votes
    9y

    I am having a similar problem.  In my 8-unit building I have a pair of coin-op machines.  The other day, a tenant called me to tell me that the washing machine was full - because it would only accept 75 cents.    So I went out there with my keys and bucket to empty the machines.  

    The machine wasn't completely full.   But the vend price had been set from $2.00 to 75 cents!  I went home and looked up how to set it up - on YouTube, natch - and went back to the building.  The vend price was back to $2.00!

    I strongly suspect that one of my tenants is reprogramming the machine to wash their clothes cheap.  The washer is digital, and there is a procedure to set the price using the front panel.  But you need to open the equipment door behind the coin box to access that mode.  Or you can open the long front panel to cut or clip wires.

    This might be a coincidence, but I did just rent to a new tenant...

    As a first step, I am thinking to get some tamper-evident tape to seal the equipment door and the long front panel.  

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free