Broiler stops working and tenant wants a reduction off the months rent

[Steve R.]

Hello,

I'm looking for thoughts on this situation as I've never had a tenant make this type of request.

The broiler stopped working on his new stove. He contacted me 15 days later

to tell me about the problem. He since told me the oven wasn't working. (The 4 burners are working) A repair man came within a week and ordered the parts and is returning tomorrow. It has been 2 weeks. 

The tenant is asking for "consideration" for "messing up his life" as he cannot cook and has to spend money eating out. 

I send him an email saying if cooking was so important to him why did he wait 15 days to notify me etc. Bottom line I offered him a $50 reduction for the next month to hopefully resolve the matter. I let him move in early and did other small things to get things off on the right foot. He moved in 1 month ago.

  Any thoughts.......What is the legal side to this?

PS not that it matters but this guy makes 150k a year. The condo is in a nice doorman building but not a 5 star building. 

[Randy E.]

@Steve R., I think a landlord can go either way on this.  Once notified, you set an appointment with the repair guy, the appliance was inspected and parts ordered, and the appliance will be repaired.  Two weeks is a long time to be without half a stove/oven, but not excessively so.  I think $50 is fine for compensation, but I would make it clear to the tenant that you are doing this out of the generosity of your heart, not out of obligation -- and not to expect such compensation in the future for the failure of other non-emergency wear-and-tear items.  I would also be fine if the landlord refused to agree to compensation.

I am curious about one thing.  I usually put very inexpensive appliances in my rentals.  Paying for two service visits plus a vendor's markup on the parts must have cost you a couple hundred dollars at least.  Any more, and you would be close to paying for the least expensive stove at a big box store.  And for less money, you could have purchased a used stove from a used appliance store.

When it comes to items like stoves and refrigerators, I would rather find a solution that didn't take two weeks from tenant notification to the resolution of the problem.  Yes, you acted on the issue very quickly, but the resolution took longer than I would have been comfortable with.  I don't think the tenant should have to go through extra discomfort because I'm trying to save a few dollars or because I didn't want to find a way to resolve the problem quicker. 

Cheers