Tenant being charged for a/c?

[Chris G.]

Over the weekend I had a tenant reach out about the a/c not turning on what so ever, it's around 95 outside so the unit got up to around 80-85 with 4 tenants inside. I told him I sent the issue over to the vendor but it likely wont get worked on until Monday. The vendor goes out on Monday and does a leak test and service call he notes that it's around 1 lb short on refrigerant and the tenants can't keep the a/c at 72 like they would. Now after cleaning or whatever they did the a/c has been working fine for past day holding temp. The vendor states the a/c broke due to the tenants keeping it in the low 70s, causing it to freeze and auto shut off and that tenants would have to keep it above 74-75 from now on. Owner is upset he has to pay since he blames the tenants for keeping it so low and wants the bill to be charged to the tenants.

My question mainly is can I even tell the tenants what they "have" to keep the thermostat at going forward? I feel that's pushing it. I have some tenants that they keep the unit at 79 and others at 70 due to whatever they're comfortable at. I also think it would be pushing it to charge the tenants for this when there is nothing saying they have to keep the thermostat at 74-75. Has anyone dealt with something similar?

[Adam Martin]

What kind of ac can you not keep at 70, that is where my personal one is set and there is no way I’d turn it up to 74.  If the lease didn’t state not to then I don’t think it is unreasonable and don’t think you can charge.  It sounds like it may be time for an upgrade.