Tenant modified/tampered with HVAC and broke it... who pays?

Question

Hi there - looking for some advice here.  Here are details:

Tenant was having some issues with HVAC

I arranged my HVAC repair man to visit property, but tenant reschedules/no shows 3 times before they finally connect up with each other.

When my repair man finally can do his diagnostic, he finds that the system (which I had installed brand new about 10 years ago) had been modified.  Somebody had bypassed the motherboard and directly powered the blower.  The result:  blower motor and motherboard were fried.  The tenant proudly told the repair man about his knowledge of hvac systems, and that he had made the modifications to try and fix it, but that it seemed to make things worse.

I told tenant that they would be responsible for the repair ($1300) since they damaged the system, and the tenant agreed.  (this was on a monday)

The repair work was scheduled for Tuesday.  On tuesday, the tenant "no showed" and reschedule for Friday.  On Friday morning they "no showed" and rescheduled for friday afternoon.  Then they canceled the appointment because an emergency came up.  I now find out that the tenant has (temporarily?) moved out because it's too hot (TX summer)... and they have finally told me that they don't have the money to make the repair.

The lease expires in two months. I'm not sure whether to expect rent on June 1st or not. If I had to bet, I'd say there's about a 50% chance that the tenant will skip town in the middle of the night, but who knows.

My question: Am I right to expect/require tenant to pay for the repair for damaging the system? Am I breaking any landlord/tenant laws by not fixing the AC, and thus rendering the house uninhabitable? Until last friday (3 days ago), i had been expecting and attempting to get the hvac fixed, but now i'm seeing it's likely going to be me paying if it does get done.

On top of that, the tenant has quit responding to email/text/phone calls.  I live out of state and cannot coordinate the repair to take place without the tenants help.

Any thoughts?  Any recommendations on a good real estate attorney in the houston area?

Thanks,

Rob

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Don't worry about what the tenant "may" do. He caused the damage and is responsible for it.

Do not repair the unit because the tenant is non-communicative. Send the tenant written notice that he is responsible for damaging the unit and therefore responsible for the repair. Demand he hire a licensed technician to make the repairs, pay for it, and send you a copy of the invoice. Give him 30 days to comply. If he pays, he stays. If he refuses to pay or even communicate with you, don't do anything with it until his lease is up and he's out, then you can make the repair and pass the charge on to him. If he still won't pay, you can take him to court or let it go.

If he fails to pay rent, hit him with the late fee and start the eviction process the very second you are allowed by law. If he abandons, deal with him according to the lease and the law.

Theresa Harris · Answer

I'd fix it and if they don't pay, keep their deposit. They may skip out and if they do, just get it rented ASAP.  IF they don't skip out, do not renew the lease.

I'd also make sure you were there when the HVAC repair person shows up as it is a waste of their time to keep coming back if they can't do anything since they can't get in the house. Let the tenant know you will be there to let them in.

Luka Milicevic · Answer

@Rob Newsom

That was one thing I was going to add actually. In my state if the rental does not have working heat/air they are actually not obligated to pay rent. It's a bit of a grey area. I would maybe not renew the lease and keep the deposit.

Greg H. · Answer

Interesting Attorney response as the Texas Code does not include air conditioning as a healthy/safety emergency.  However, heat is a health/safety issue

Rob Newsom · Answer

Update - I decided i needed to get some legit legal advice (no offense to all the opinions i got above)... I used biggerpockets member search tool to find an attorney in my area.  He has informed me that despite the tenant damaging the property and admitting to it, it is still the owners responsibility to make any repairs that can affect the health and safety of the dwelling.  And since it's summer in houston, the A/C falls into this category.

Behold, as soon as I texted my tenant that I need to schedule the repair whether she has money to pay or not, she has resurfaced and is now more than willing to meet the repair man at any time that's convenient for me.  How kind and thoughtful of her!

Scott Mac · Answer

Lucky he didn't electrocute himself, there is a big Capacitor in the system and they tend to run on 230 Volts.

Hopefully the next renter is not an 'Expert" on HVAC's like this one.

Kind of makes me wonder what other (Dangerous) "Improvements" he made to the place.

Rob Newsom · Answer

Awesome, thanks for all the feedback.    For now I am going to sit and wait.  We'll see if tenant pays rent for June.  In TX they have 5 days to pay, so I can't start eviction paperwork till June 6th (E-Day?).

If they pay rent i'll have to re-assess, but I'm primarily focused on making sure I'm not breaking any laws by not making the repair, regardless of who's fault the damage was.  The last thing I want to do is fumble the ball 60 days before the lease ends and then end up in a legal battle that prolongs things.  I suppose I could just fix the AC to stay "above reproach", which would cost me $1300, but at least i'd avoid any potential legal issues and/or prolonged drag-out of the relationship with tenant.

As of now, the tenant is still not answering phone calls or texts, so i don't know how i would proceed with the repair even if i wanted to.  If i didn't mention already, the property is in TX and I'm living in WY, so i can't just drive across town.

Thanks!  Will keep updating as it develops and will post results when it's settled!

Bill B. · Answer

I would fix it, since you’re going to have to fix it either way. The tenant comes back he can reimburse you as he already agreed to pay in front of the repairman. He doesn’t come back And doesn’t pay rent you file of eviction. You mail a statement of security fund balance after making unit ready to rent and the $1300 repair. Unless they destroyed the place you’ll probably be close to rent other than an earlier than expected vacancy. But you get ac fixed for free when obviously it would have cost you something when it failed. Win win.

Tenant modified/tampered with HVAC and broke it... who pays?

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