Air conditioner not cooling

[Ana Vhan]

On my rental in the arizona area, I missed renewing the warranty which I was hoping would take care of the AC unit fixes. 

Now, the tenant has reported that the unit is working but its not cooling the place. 

I have asked an AC person to look at it. But I am concerned about the cost. 

A couple of questions, 

1. What AC problems can be caused due to poor handling by tenants? for ex. not changing filter regularly. Any other? Which types of AC costs can I ask the tenant to cover? (we do have a clause in the lease for regular upkeep of AC )

2. Almost all warranty wait period is 30 days. If I purchase the warranty, is there anything I can install temporarily during the wait time? 

Thanks,

Ana 

[Randall Alan]

Quote from @Ana Vhan:

On my rental in the arizona area, I missed renewing the warranty which I was hoping would take care of the AC unit fixes. 

Now, the tenant has reported that the unit is working but its not cooling the place. 

I have asked an AC person to look at it. But I am concerned about the cost. 

A couple of questions, 

1. What AC problems can be caused due to poor handling by tenants? for ex. not changing filter regularly. Any other? Which types of AC costs can I ask the tenant to cover? (we do have a clause in the lease for regular upkeep of AC )

2. Almost all warranty wait period is 30 days. If I purchase the warranty, is there anything I can install temporarily during the wait time? 

Thanks,

Ana 

@Ana Vhan

We own 40 air conditioners between all our properties.    let’s start off with the typical AC call is about $150 for me.  The most common issue is that the outside units use capacitors to help crank on the AC and when those go out, they have to be replaced.   so a $90 service all and an $80 capacitor fixed well over 1/2 of most issues.

There are lots of issues that aren’t even that complicated… Batteries in the thermostat going dead, drain lines, getting clogged with dirt and goo, drip pans that get full from the unit sweating too much or not draining properly, bad thermostats, etc.

Occasionally, you will get either a leak, or a bigger part that goes bad that will cost in the $200 to $500 range… fans and motors going out, etc.

Home warranties are worthless… they will take 3 weeks to fix your AC.  They are terrible!  Would never recommend one!    You can’t leave a tenant hanging that long, especially in a hot state in the summer!  You can buy a portable AC unit the tenant could limp by on… they are around $300-400 at Home Depot.  One will not cover a whole multi-room house though.   You need to step up as a landlord and fix the tenant’s problem.  That is your main role as far as they are concerned.  There should not even be the thought of “how do I wait 30 days before I call for service” going through your head!  Make the call.  Fix the issue.  It’s as simple as that. 

The crux of your post seems to be how can I charge my tenant for this?   I would simply have your AC guy report back to you what they found. If they come back to you with something like the filter was completely clogged up and it caused the unit to freeze up, then you could have that conversation with your tenant. Outside of changing the filter, there isn’t a lot a tenant can do to damage the unit (presuming they don’t physically abuse it.).

We had one of those special tenants that only closed 1/2 of the latches on the filter cover… Leaving a huge gaping hole, where air could go in behind the filter…<insert eye roll here!>. That proceeded to clog up the drain line, which normally would mean water would the collect in the emergency pan till the float switch turned it off. But in the installer’s infinite wisdom, they thought using duct tape to hold the overflow sensor onto the pan would be a good idea in 180° Florida attic. The float switch just simply rolled backwards as the water rose and then water started to come through the ceiling. Our tenant didn’t bother to turn off the AC, and then the ceiling collapsed in where it had soaked up too much water. Those are the tenants we love the most! 

Usually the only super expensive repair on an AC unit is when the compressor goes out. This is really a rare occurrence.  The typical AC will last the better part if 2 decades.  Compressors are typically warranties for 10 years.  So expect the simple fix for a typical AC repair… usually under $300. 

All the best!

Randy