I have tenant in townhouse in Illinois with no lease now. I have contract with Warranty Co. for appliances - if appliance cannot be repaired they replace it.
On Monday tenant says there is a leak from ice maker. My Warranty Co. does not do leaks. l call another repair service who comes on Tuesday. They say fridge should not be repaired (too costly) but replaced. Tenant then asked if I am getting it repaired today-I said "No". She angrily responded and hung up on me.
Later that day tenant says fridge not cooling. I set an appointment with Warranty Co for Thursday. Notified tenant of appointment and that I needed Warranty's serviceman so I could exercise options of contract. Tenant ignored and bought new refrigerator delivered on Friday.
Now tenant wants to be compensated. Warranty would have replaced but tenant ignored my request for service. What is my legal obligation?
@Mary C. Mathews Review your lease very carefully. Most leases state that a landlord has to, in good faith, try to remedy the situation in a reasonable time. It sounds like that is what you were doing. If the tenant jumps the gun and buys their own refrigerator, well then, they are the proud owners of a new refrigerator that they can haul to the next place.
When my husband and I rented in CA, my husband bought a new toilet seat and tried to bill back the landlord. I had told my husband that he needed to get the OK from our landlord first before doing that. Guess what? Landlord didn’t reimburse us...which I knew was going to happen. We were the proud owners of a toilet seat!
Every state rental laws are slightly different. I don’t think you are required to reimburse any portion of the refrigerator. Also, the tenant isn’t required to leave that behind when they move out.
@Mary C. Mathews Review your lease very carefully. Most leases state that a landlord has to, in good faith, try to remedy the situation in a reasonable time. It sounds like that is what you were doing. If the tenant jumps the gun and buys their own refrigerator, well then, they are the proud owners of a new refrigerator that they can haul to the next place.
When my husband and I rented in CA, my husband bought a new toilet seat and tried to bill back the landlord. I had told my husband that he needed to get the OK from our landlord first before doing that. Guess what? Landlord didn’t reimburse us...which I knew was going to happen. We were the proud owners of a toilet seat!
Every state rental laws are slightly different. I don’t think you are required to reimburse any portion of the refrigerator. Also, the tenant isn’t required to leave that behind when they move out.
@Mary C. Mathews one more thing.....curious why you’d send a repair person out to exercise the cooling warranty option after the service man for the freezer told you the leak wasn’t worth replacing? Are these 2 separate units - freezer and refrigerator?
I’d think if one guy said it’s cheaper to replace than repair, what’s the benefit of the second warranty guy coming out?
My guess is there was nothing wrong with the cooling. She wasn't happy with no ice maker/water dispenser.
You called the repair person and she chose to buy a new fridge without checking with you. She's now the proud owner of a new fridge.
If the warranty person said it should be replaced, is that part of their package-ie they pay for a new fridge? Assuming the contract you have means they replace the fridge for 'free' as part of your contract, I'd get the guy from the warranty company over because once she leaves, you will still need a fridge. If your contract works differently, then wait until she moves to get a new fridge.
"When my husband and I rented in CA, my husband bought a new toilet seat and tried to bill back the landlord. I had told my husband that he needed to get the OK from our landlord first before doing that. Guess what? Landlord didn’t reimburse us...which I knew was going to happen. We were the proud owners of a toilet seat!"
Sorry but I could not help not to comment on it
Buying a toilet seat and trying to get reimbursed for it from the landlord and then to take that toilet seat on the move out....Holy cow.Husband took sh*t to the next level :)
A few things. There is no lease, it ended an July 2019. I had 2 different repairmen because: 1) the Warranty Company I have contract with would not service any type of leak, 2) I called another repair service to check the leak, 3) the other repair service suggested I get a new fridge, 4) when the fridge stopped cooling I could get my Warranty Company out, 5) my Warranty Company has to make the determination that it needs to be replaced because that is the contracting company.
Also, I’m in another state. I asked that the fridge be put in garage and then put back in place when they leave. Then I can call warranty company for repair/replacement.
A few things. There is no lease, it ended an July 2019. I had 2 different repairmen because: 1) the Warranty Company I have contract with would not service any type of leak, 2) I called another repair service to check the leak, 3) the other repair service suggested I get a new fridge, 4) when the fridge stopped cooling I could get my Warranty Company out, 5) my Warranty Company has to make the determination that it needs to be replaced because that is the contracting company.
hope that’s clear. Thanks for the feedback.
Basically you can get a new fridge for 'free' if the warranty company determines that it needs to be replaced. If that's the case, then get them to look at the old fridge. If the tenant got rid of it, then she's on the hook for a new one.
Theresa, yes that’s it exactly. That’s why it’s so irritating that tenant ignored me, preventing warranty company from making service call, which probably would have led to replacement at no cost to me.