Landlord Responsibilities Fridge/Washing Machine

[Casey Stoker]

Hello all,

I have been reading through this forum and saw some great advice,  I hope I can also get some feedback. I have a property in NJ that I have rented for the past 3 years. The tenants had a lease for the first year and after it expired I did not renew the lease because they have consistently been late on rent. For the past 2 years the tenants have been on a month to month lease. 

I was recently given an offer from a buyer for the property and the tenants were given 45 days to vacate. They are now a few days pass their vacate date. In the past month the tenants have had various complaints and 2 weeks ago stated that the refridgerator and the washing machine no longer works. I bought a small refridgerator for their food that they only have had to use for one week, but they are now asking for reimbursement for the spoiled food items and laundromat cost. 

This is a bit unique because NJ does not require that these items be provided to a tenant, and also even though it was on their original lease they have not had a lease in years. As the landlord, am I responsible for reimbursing them for those out of pocket costs?

I appreciate any feedback.

Casey

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Casey Stoker:

Hello all,

Thank you all for your responses and your advice. 

The tenants finally moved out and the place is a mess. Luckily, the person who is buying the property is buying "as is". I am not going to reimburse them for spoiled food and for them having to use a laundromat. Especially since after I posted this message I got a call from my town's building department that they had filed a complaint against me. The town closed the case and the inspector seemed pretty irate with with them because they had never complained in all the years that they lived there and they filed this complaint after their order to vacate.

I found out that they had two dogs in the unit and I am tempted to take it out of their security deposit since they were not supposed to have pets. I also just want to be finished with them and just give them tge entire deposit back, but I feel so taken advantage of by them.

@Nathan you are right they played me like a fiddle and I did not enjoy being a landlord. I was burned to badly I am not even sure that I would want to go through it again even with a property manager. 

Andrea 

And this is why I don't advocate cash for keys. Brandon teaches it and people preach it like it's the gospel. It could be a useful tool if you're an experienced Landlord and know when/how to use it. For most Landlords, it's opening the door to additional problems, rewarding the tenant for bad behavior, and encouraging them to misbehave again for the next Landlord.