Refrigerator repair

[Luther Johnson]

I had a tenant call about a refrigerator repair. I called a repair technician who did the repair for a couple hundred dollars and I paid it in February. I decided to check the lease agreement for this property a couple days ago (now it's May 1) and it has a line item saying, appliances (including refrigerators) that may be supplied with the residence "are supplied for the tenant's convenience and will not be repaired or maintained at the owner's expense."

Obviously, I should've checked the lease when the call was made, but also think it may still be a reasonable timeframe to bill the tenant even though I paid for the repair in Feb. Or, should I eat this one and let the tenant know all future repairs will be his/her responsibility? Thanks, Luther

[Patrick L.]

If you called and authorized the work then it's your responsibility. If it's for the "tenant's convenience" then you cannot have it repaired and bill the tenant unless the tenant has specifically authorized it. You'd have to give the tenant the option to have it repaired, buy their own, or just not have a fridge.