Do we have to fix this laundry room?

[Elenis Camargo]

Hi BP! I just inherited my third set of tenants. They have lived in the property 12 years. Never had their rent raised. Don’t have a security deposit and are month to month. The property needs a complete rehab as they seem to be hoarders and everything is filthy and outdated. Literally everything has to be ripped out.

When I called to introduce myself they said the hot water didn’t work and the kitchen sink had very low water pressure. I got those two things fixed within the hour of hanging up the phone. I sent them a new lease for them to sign for a year. I am not asking for a security deposit since the place needs to be gutted anyway. Our plan is once the lease is up to give them a few months to move out and completely renovate the property to either sell it or refi and raise the rent price.

The previous landlords never bothered to fix anything for them. She seems pretty pissed about that, which I would be too. Now she emails me saying the laundry machine is “still” draining out the window and no one has fixed it. Also there is a shed (if you can call it that) that’s pretty destroyed from a hurricane Florida had several years ago. She wants that fixed as well. She also asked for a copy of the inspection report to make sure the property is “safe” to live in. I definitely won’t be sending that. The property is safe. The shed I will fix for sure because it’s a safety hazard. I will remove it completely. I don’t want them going inside and having it fall on them. But the laundry, I’m not sure. If the laundry machines are not ours then are we forced to fix that? I’d rather wait until next year when we fully rehab it. But maybe having it drain out the window will cause another issue? Just wanted to get everyone’s input.

Thanks!