Fixing/Replacing Appliance for Tenant

[Nick J.]

Hi BP Fourms folks,

Our tenant just informed us that the washer in their unit is "making a squeaking noise during the wash/agitation cycle and when spinning, it is rocking loudly. It sounds like when a load if off balance, but when I open the machine, the load seems evenly distributed".

The washer is our responsibility per the lease agreement.

My questions are:

1) Is this a problem that warrants immediate fixing/replacing of the washer or, given it still works, can I ask the tenant to live with it for now and if it continues or gets worse, we will replace/fix it.

2) If we do need to replace the washer, can I replace it with a used washer or should it be new? I'd ideally like to replace with a used unit to save on costs. 

This is my first real issue with a tenant as I am somewhat of a newbie.

Thanks in advance!