Hello Everyone,

This is going to be a little lengthy....

I'm a new landlord, and these are my first tenants. They live in an apartment above my garage. The lower half is not insulated, and the HVAC system is old but functional - though not really good. About a month back, the drip pan filled up and forced it to shut off. My tenants texted me that day telling me it was 97 degrees in the unit! I was out of town too, but I spent the next hour and a half calling people to see who could come out. I only found 1 guy able to do it the next morning.

So the guy came out the next day and cleaned the drip line and got a slow drip going. He told me that the unit was reaching the end of its life and couldn't figure out why it was dripping so slowly. He said a new unit would be like 4-5k and that's before construction costs since the attic opening is so tiny, it would have to be widened to actually get it up there. So I'm figuring more like 6-7k, all things considered. Maybe more? I don't know.... But for the time being, it was at least cooling. So I figured we were good - I'd keep checking to make sure it was dripping, and the tenants would let me know if it goes bad again. My girlfriend and I bought some blinds for the windows hoping that would help some - the unit had none, and I got some insulation to put on the garage ceiling. I was in the middle of putting up the insulation when one of the tenants came by to pick something up, and she was angry that the driveway had puddles in it from the rain and my truck was parked in the least-wet spot. I had only parked there to unload the insulation. So she yelled at me about that as she walked back to her car. This was 2 days after the ~$1600 butt-wipe/tampon sewage clog I decided not to take out of their security deposit, and after I got them a decent hotel room for 2 nights while the clog was being fixed. I already let them use $150 from their security deposit as a deposit to the power company because I hadn't told them they might need to do that (this is their first time renting). Not to mention I've so far turned a blind eye to the cat they snuck in (I explained at lease signing that's a $200 fee). Me and my girlfriend were actually checking up on it while they were in the hotel. We laugh about it, but it's got me feeling like a total beta in my own home. See I'm nice, right? But I feel I've been WAY too nice so far.

Another thing that's kind of important to note: while the AC guy was over, the one who didn't yell at me was home and she's apparently been going through stuff lately. At one point she was crying telling me she didn't care if she lived or died anymore and she had cut her wrists a few weeks ago (in MY unit, no less!) - I saw the marks but didn't think they were recent. They both had a friend that was killed less than a week before then so they were dealing with that. It's just been such a sticky situation, and I was trying to help them a bit by cutting them some slack. Probably would've been a bad time to bring up the pet fee.

Anyway, they got their power bill a few days after the guy fixed the AC and it was like $180 for the 700 sq.ft. apartment. I know that's a lot. They were keeping it in the low 70's, but I don't think it ever got that cool. And I felt bad because they asked me what the bill would be like when they signed the lease, and I said I just moved into the main house myself and it really varies, but I didn't expect it to go over the low $100's. They have brought that up several times now. I was wrong there, but I keep getting the impression they think I should reimburse them. I feel like as long as the unit is habitable, that's more their problem than mine. So here's two questions: am I wrong in assuming this? And if I am wrong, how low does their power bill need to get down to for it to not be my responsibility?

So a month later (3 days ago at the time of writing this), I got a text from one of them saying their new bill came in and it was $220. They've been keeping at at 76 the past month I think, but they said that it doesn't cool below 80 during the day - though when they texted me that I took it to mean that they had it set to 80 (I told them that's what I've been doing). After being sworn and yelled at while doing the insulation a month earlier, I didn't finish putting it up. I didn't give them the blinds either. I see no reason to do favors for them if they're going to talk to me like that. But I'm so new to this, I don't know. Did I cross a line there? I saw it as more of me doing them a favor anyway, not stepping on some unalienable rights of theirs as my tenants. Regardless, we gave them the blinds after the $220 bill, and I gave them the option of installing the blinds themselves or having me install them and they chose to do it themselves.

So I get a text this afternoon saying, "It's 87 degrees. This should have been fixed by now." This is from the one that mouthed off to me. This is the first time since it broke that I heard about it going over 80 degrees. Guess what though? They hadn't even installed the blinds yet. So she's saying she doesn't see why she should have to pay this bill since I refused to pay to have the AC fixed. Call me crazy, but I'm getting the vibe she's pointing fingers at me and trying to make it seem like I'm negligent. But what she doesn't understand is that as far as I was concerned, it was fixed and they should just put up some blinds and maybe set it a little higher. But 87 degrees when you have it set to 76 is ridiculous. I'm not arguing that - it's just this is the first time I heard that there was such a big issue since it broke the first time and it seems to be approaching uninhabitable conditions. 

I texted back saying I had somewhere to be soon but I'd be over to check it out in an hour at the latest. We texted back and forth while I was out just so I could get more details on the issue, and it got a little heated. She said she wasn't trying to be rude, and I said she was being very rude, just because of the stuff she started the conversation with. Soon, she told me not to worry about coming over, the blinds were up now and they'll see if that fixed it. And I'm totally confused at that point because I thought it was a broken AC issue. She said it wasn't cooling. If it's not cooling, I needed to actually call someone. I just wanted information so I could know what needed to be fixed. 

Anyway, she seemed satisfied enough to not have me mess with it, and I didn't want to deal with her, so I didn't go over. The other tenant was texting me too, and I said I'd finish installing the insulation and we'd see how that affected things along with the blinds. If that doesn't work, I'll look into a window unit for them. I said that to her about the window unit. So I thought we were good at that point. But then I got another text like 15 minutes later saying the angry one's granddad would be in touch with me soon. And I'm like "what does that even mean"? He apparently does HVAC installation for a living, and he wanted to explain to me why insulation under the floor wouldn't work. I said I'd research it and call the guys from before if I needed help with the unit itself, and that I didn't want to start involving family members. So what happens next? Ten minutes later, the angry one's mom calls me. Really? Her mom called me and talked about how I should consider getting them some kind of window unit or some other non-central alternative and it was clear that her daughter and I aren't friends and she isn't the best at communicating and she's been so hot in that apartment all day and more excuses.

I'll be the first to admit I butted heads with this girl more than I should have. I feel like I'm renting to a couple of children playing house, and I'm embarrassed that I stooped to that level. I'm embarrassed that I cut them so many breaks. So if anyone can spare any advice for me, please help me out here. I really don't know what to do moving forward. I need input from unbiased parties. My plan is to install the insulation, most likely get a window unit (though I doubt that'll help their bill), wait to hear about their next bill, and figure out what to do from there.