Tenants demanding appliances

[Brian Cornick]

I’ve had new tenants in an SFR on a 2 year lease for about 5 months now. When they moved in, I agreed to replace the oven, because it needed some serious cleaning and was about 25 years old. Two months later the dishwasher broke, so I had that replaced. All of the sudden they say the fridge broke. I asked the typical questions (is it staying cold, shutting off, leaking, etc.). They say it’s tripping the fuse, so I had an electrician take a look, and he said it’s completely fine. So I called an appliance repair man in town to ask if he’s ever seen this problem, to which he responded absolutely not, they just want a new fridge. I told them I’d have the repair man come take a look to ensure them it works, yet they call non stop telling me it’s broken and want a new one. My gut tells me they just want brand new appliances in the kitchen, but how can I determine that when I don’t live there, and when I go to take a look myself, it is ironically working fine that day. I’ve argued with them over this for almost a month now, and finally am deciding to replace it with a cheap fridge to make them happy since it’s still the beginning of a two year lease. Has anyone dealt with this type of situation and have any suggestions?

[John Underwood]

@Brian Cornick I would do one of 2 things.

1. Keep sending over an appliance repair person, but every time he reports nothing is wrong let them know (when they call) they are paying for the service call if nothing is found to be wrong.

2. Buy a used refrigerator no better than the one they have and swap it out. You can use the one you removed at another property or keep it as a backup. You could even replace it with a used one that is slightly less nice than the one they have. That should reduce them from asking for new appliances in the future.

You can often find used appliances that come with at least a 90 day warranty.