Refrigerator repair on a rental property

[Nizam Sluggar]

Hello,
I read lot of information on this site and learned a lot as well, thanks for sharing the knowledge.
I have a situation on my rental property, I rented my property with refrigerator (Tenant got their own W/D) that is in good condition and working properly but the waterline was not working for some reason. Now, am I obligated of repairing the waterline so that they can use the water/ice from refrigerator or do the tenant take care of repairing it and use the ice/water. We do not have anything written in the Agreement about providing the appliances etc or repairing for any maintenance issues.

Please advice.

[Michael Rossi]

If you provided the refrigerator with an ice maker, then I would fix it. As soon as this tenant moves out, I would sell the refrigerator and go to the used appliance store and get a good looking, but CHEAP used refrigerator for your rental. You should have as few complicated things in your apartment as possible. If this is a typical low or lower-middle-income rental (blue collar), then there should be no ice-maker, no ceiling fans, no garbage disposal, no dishwasher, no screen doors, no window screens (unless required by Section 8), etc. Tenants are not smart enough to have these complicated things in their rental units!!! Keep it simple.

Heat, light, and indoor running water are too complicated for most tenants also, but the socialists want the peasants to have these things. What can you do?

If this is a higher-rent unit, then do the minimum that will compete with other units in the area.

Good Luck,

Mike