I'm looking for strategies to handle a tenant situation.

[Sierra Hatley]

I had a tenant move in on the 1st of October. he informed us on the 12th that his freezer isn't freezing. I have a warranty but they didn't have a contractor that works the weekend. so I wasn't able to schedule them to come out until that Tuesday, after speaking with them on Monday. That contractor informed us that freon was needed and they would have to contact the warranty company to see who pays for that. After finding out warranty company pays, they came back out Thursday and added freon. Friday the tenant calls and the freezer still isn't freezing. The tenant is completely agitated and is becoming difficult with his tone. I tell him that I will get the company back out there but of course it won't be until Monday because they're closed on the weekend. The contractor comes back out and says they didn't add enough freon and adds more and says it will be freezing by the following day.

Of course, that wasn't the solution either and now the tenant is furious and is a bit irate, he feels that we should reimburse him for $180 for food that he wasted. I call the warranty company and they send out a new repairman for a second opinion. The new repairman says it's the compressor and it will take 2 weeks to repair. 

I'm debating on buying a new refrigerator to get the tenant off my back and paying him for what he says he lost. I'm conflicted because the warranty company which we have paid for in full is responsible for buying a new appliance if it's not fixable. I also don't believe $180 is reasonable, it's just him and a new born baby and a 5 year old. Although I understand his frustration I do feel he is being unreasonable. His refrigerator works just fine and There wasn't any food in the freezer when we went by to check on the refrigerator originally. 

[Karl B.]

When I was in graduate school this happened to me. I had to throw out the food in my freezer and the owner refused to cover the food. Like a brat, I remember tossing a package of hot dogs in the flower bed outside my front door. lol

The fridge/freezer was ancient but they did correctly repair it. 

One option is to purchase a new fridge for the tenant (I buy mine at the Sears scratch and dent store because they're often 50%-60% of the price of a new, undamaged fridge). 

Then have the warranty company fix the broken one and you can have that fridge as a backup for a different unit. 

I can understand the tenants'  anger. If it happened and was fixed properly the first time then I'd say tough luck. But due to the fact the repair guy was inept I have more sympathy for the tenant, though if there wasn't any food in the fridge initially, that's strange (unless it had been days and was already spoiled). 

Now, having said that, in my lease I specify that the tenant is responsible for the maintenance and repair for the refrigerator and range. :-)