Who is responsible for cleaning out the dryer vent?

Rental Property Investor · Columbia, SC · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes

7y

@Sheri Angier I'm not sure who is technically responsible but, assuming they have been good tenants, I would send someone out there and pay to have it taken care of. They've been at the house for 4 years which is fantastic. The number one cardinal sin in my real estate business is vacancy. I do everything I reasonably can to keep the houses occupied at all times.

Keep them happy as long as it's within reason.

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Nancy DeSocio

Rental Property Investor · Cranston, RI · Member since 2017 · 171 posts · 158 votes

7y

I'd agree that regardless of where the responsibility lies, it would be a small gesture of good will on your part to have your PM arrange for it to be cleaned out (especially if they are good tenants). If the vent hasn't been cleaned in 19 years, it's due..and a much bigger concern/liability if such blockage causes a fire after they reported this to you.

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Sheri Angier

OP

Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 1 vote

7y

Excellent points, will be taken into consideration. Thanks for the responses!

1 Reply

Russell BrazilBusiness Member

Moderator

Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

7y

Just get it done, or go over and stick a vacuum down there. Its not even worth the time spent thinking about it.

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Lien VuongBusiness Member

Real Estate Agent · Boston, MA · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes

7y

It's a small cost to make your tenants happy and your house SAFE. Dont forget that your name is on the deed and if something happened to the property because of their lack of care it still falls under you. That's a minor maintenance item in my opinion and it gives a lot of peace of mind.

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Kyle J.

Rental Property Investor · Northern, CA · Member since 2012 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes

7y

As a landlord, I would have that done. It’s just part of maintaining a property. It doesn’t cost much to have someone do that (probably only about $125 give or take) and if it is clogged it is a fire hazard.

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Rebecca Sierra

Member since 2023 · 3 posts · 0 votes

3y

I have the exact same issue but the roles are reversed. I am the tenant, I purchased a new dryer and getting the blocked vent code. Landlord states that to the best of his knowledge, the vent hasn’t been cleaned in 40 years but he thinks this ‘dryer code’ is a broken dryer and a flook and refuses to pay for the cleaning. Since I don’t want my family and me to die in a dryer fire, I am paying for the service to HIS HOUSE! To state the obvious, I’m a little pissed. If you think I’m wrong to be pissed, please let me know. Thanks

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Henry T.

Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

3y

IF the OP never checked it for clearance, then its on them. If they checked it before renting, then the tenant should take it from there. A landlord provides a clean vent. He cant't be responsible for a dryer that doesn't filter well. It takes only a couple minutes to fish and run a brush through. Sheeesh.

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Account Closed

Investor · Scottsdale Austin Tuktoyaktuk · Member since 2021 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Sheri Angier:

I wanted to see if anyone has insight on a dryer vent cleaning issue I have had come up on my rental home. The tenant called to notify the property manager that he bought a new dryer and the sensor is saying that the airflow is 80% blocked. After an in-depth conversation, the manager learned that the tenant was having problems with their old unit not drying as sufficiently as it should, so, they went out over the Holidays and purchased a whole new set. Now that they have their new dryer in place they have discovered the blockage of airflow and they want us to fix it.

My first thought was, did they check the vent to make sure it wasn't clogged PRIOR to buying a whole new unit? The tenants claim they did so after I initially said no to paying someone to come out and investigate their issue. They have been in the house now for nearly 4 years. We lived in that house for 15 years prior to them, and we never had any dryer issues with our units and the vent. My questions is who is responsible to have a company come out and clean the vent professionally? We did not leave a washer and dryer for them to use when they rented the home.

Any help or insight would be appreciated. I know I could do this, but I feel like they have not really tried to check for a blockage from their use of their dryer. Thanks!

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Richard F.

Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Rebecca Sierra:

I have the exact same issue but the roles are reversed. I am the tenant, I purchased a new dryer and getting the blocked vent code. Landlord states that to the best of his knowledge, the vent hasn’t been cleaned in 40 years but he thinks this ‘dryer code’ is a broken dryer and a flook and refuses to pay for the cleaning. Since I don’t want my family and me to die in a dryer fire, I am paying for the service to HIS HOUSE! To state the obvious, I’m a little pissed. If you think I’m wrong to be pissed, please let me know. Thanks

Aloha,

Since this thread was four years old, I would just say that for the average installation, I have found this to be a much better solution: https://adr-products.com/

It works equally well in detached homes and high rise units with only a short section of the flex vent line which can be easily changed when replacing equipment.

As to the OP question, if your vent line just connects to a wall mounted exhaust that empties directly outside at that point, then the vent line should have simply been replaced at the time of the equipment change-out. If this was a MF property, with the dryer vents run to the roof or otherwise for many feet within the wall/ceiling, or connected to the bathroom and/or kitchen ventilation fans to exhaust at the roof, then definitely the LL responsibility to have cleaned every 3 - 5 years.

0 Reply

Rebecca Sierra

Member since 2023 · 3 posts · 0 votes

3y

Quote from @Henry T.:

IF the OP never checked it for clearance, then its on them. If they checked it before renting, then the tenant should take it from there. A landlord provides a clean vent. He cant't be responsible for a dryer that doesn't filter well. It takes only a couple minutes to fish and run a brush through. Sheeesh.

Thanks everyone for your replies. LL has never checked it since acquiring the property. I purchased a LG smart w/d, my previous w/d didn’t have those capabilities, so when the new one was installed and used it had immediately coded the vent airflow as restricted and advised to contact vent specialist before using dryer again. We did the more advanced diagnosis on the dryer & info came up worse. At that point I contacted the LL and told him what was going on & he came by with his regular vacuum and no other tools. He took off the hose from dryer to wall looked inside, walked outside stuck vacuum hose into opening and he was done. (The duct work runs the length of our living room to outside wall; approximately 15’). I did a load of laundry & when the dryer was done, it coded at vent restricted at 80% (do not use contact vent specialist asap). CB LL advised of issue asked him if he knew when duct was cleaned, he said to his knowledge never; that’s 40yrs. He acquired the property from his father. I asked him if it could be cleaned fully and his final statement was; he looked at it, it looked fine, he thinks the dryer code could be a broken computer and if I thought it was so important then I can pay for it myself. I said I felt better doing it b/c the fact he doesn’t think it’s ever been cleaned and that I didn’t want to die in a dryer fire I will. I think he thinks I complain a lot b/c I called him about rain filling the track of the window soaking my bed b/c condo HOA hasn’t cleaned rain gutter in 3yrs (then he did it and it was full), central heater blows out black smoke that makes my dad & me instantly sick, so we can’t use it (he blows me off, so we use space heaters in every room) and house has no weather proofing,(single-pane windows too) so the living room is too cold to spend time in. It’s very hard to just get up and move since I’m physically disabled & my dad’s 71. Sorry for the long rant, he’s a nice guy, just doesn’t really want to do much on the house b/c, as he likes to state, I knew it was an “as is” rental when I moved in. California rent is high, this place was advertised as lower b/c of no a/c and the community it’s in is fantastic, I just wish he was a little more reasonable about the problems mentioned above. I actually really like constructive criticism, so if anyone has any, please let me know 🙂

0 Reply

Henry T.

Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

3y

Quote from @Rebecca Sierra:

Quote from @Henry T.:

IF the OP never checked it for clearance, then its on them. If they checked it before renting, then the tenant should take it from there. A landlord provides a clean vent. He cant't be responsible for a dryer that doesn't filter well. It takes only a couple minutes to fish and run a brush through. Sheeesh.

Thanks everyone for your replies. LL has never checked it since acquiring the property. I purchased a LG smart w/d, my previous w/d didn’t have those capabilities, so when the new one was installed and used it had immediately coded the vent airflow as restricted and advised to contact vent specialist before using dryer again. We did the more advanced diagnosis on the dryer & info came up worse. At that point I contacted the LL and told him what was going on & he came by with his regular vacuum and no other tools. He took off the hose from dryer to wall looked inside, walked outside stuck vacuum hose into opening and he was done. (The duct work runs the length of our living room to outside wall; approximately 15’). I did a load of laundry & when the dryer was done, it coded at vent restricted at 80% (do not use contact vent specialist asap). CB LL advised of issue asked him if he knew when duct was cleaned, he said to his knowledge never; that’s 40yrs. He acquired the property from his father. I asked him if it could be cleaned fully and his final statement was; he looked at it, it looked fine, he thinks the dryer code could be a broken computer and if I thought it was so important then I can pay for it myself. I said I felt better doing it b/c the fact he doesn’t think it’s ever been cleaned and that I didn’t want to die in a dryer fire I will. I think he thinks I complain a lot b/c I called him about rain filling the track of the window soaking my bed b/c condo HOA hasn’t cleaned rain gutter in 3yrs (then he did it and it was full), central heater blows out black smoke that makes my dad & me instantly sick, so we can’t use it (he blows me off, so we use space heaters in every room) and house has no weather proofing,(single-pane windows too) so the living room is too cold to spend time in. It’s very hard to just get up and move since I’m physically disabled & my dad’s 71. Sorry for the long rant, he’s a nice guy, just doesn’t really want to do much on the house b/c, as he likes to state, I knew it was an “as is” rental when I moved in. California rent is high, this place was advertised as lower b/c of no a/c and the community it’s in is fantastic, I just wish he was a little more reasonable about the problems mentioned above. I actually really like constructive criticism, so if anyone has any, please let me know 🙂

I hope I'm not condescending but the answer is obvious. He can fix all those problems, but then you should expect the rent to go up. He obviously prefers to rent the place "as is" and therefore it's a bit cheaper than comparables. You can't have it both ways. Though moving is a hassle, it is a choice that's available....I personally think a LL should be able to rent a hillbilly shack if he wants to, and price it accordingly. But legislation gets passed, certain standards must be met, then the price rises for all. Where as, there may be a person that could be very content in that hillbilly shack and the price that's offered. I have other standards, but two parties should be able to agree to whatever fits their needs, without interference. Yes, I'm probably a lone voice crying in the wind. Here's hoping you get things worked out.

Who is responsible for cleaning out the dryer vent?

Who is responsible for cleaning out the dryer vent?

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