Tenant wants to remove light fixture

[Albert Johnson]

I have a tenant that wants to remove a light fixture and install a ceiling fan.

we told them upon move out as long as everything would be the same as move in.

So they remove the large light fixture and installed a ceiling fan. They want us to put it in storage for them. More or less hold it.

we told them we did agree to the removal of it, just that upon move out everything should be the same.  I said we are not responsible for the fixture until move out.

They left the fixture outside under all weather conditions.

Are we being fair? Or mean to this tenant?

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Albert Johnson, fair doesn't matter. You had an agreement for how to handle it. So, I guess charge them for the light fixture if its ruined. I would charge it now so that it doesn't need to come off the deposit at the end leaving you with more deposit for any other damages.

That said, I would NOT have handled that the same way. A few thoughts:

1. I would have required that a professional install it. Ceiling fans need to be secured differently than a basic ceiling to be stable and this is of course electrical work so allowing a tenant to potentially do it is a liability issue if they got injured.

2. I would have simply said they the ceiling fan stays when they move out as its an upgrade and a light fixture is a "fixture" aka once attached to real estate it legally becomes part of the real estate and YOUR (the landlord's) property. I did this exact thing last time a tenant asked to install a TV mount on the wall of a bedroom. I told them they could if they left it when they moved.

BTW, this might be the reasonable solution now as well just to have them leave it.