Tenants refuse to be home for AC installation, expect me to be...

[Rob K.]

I rent a duplex to two groups of two tenants, so you`d think among the 4 of them, somebody could be home for a new AC unit to be installed.

When they first notified me of the problem, I asked them to check the breaker, make sure the thermostat was set correctly, check if the unit was coming on at all etc and to let me know their findings.

I heard nothing for ten days and figured it was working, but sure enough, when I contacted them to make sure, it wasn`t.

I made an appointment for a tech to come out the next day, but none of them were available and couldn`t agree on a day they`d be home until several days later.

When the tech came out, he got the AC working, but barely and it wasn`t worth fixing.

I told the tenants I`d have a new one put in ASAP and scheduled an estimate for the next day.

None of them could be home the next day, but I felt bad for them and their pets, so I offered to be there for the estimate.  

I then took the first available install appointment which was 3 days later.

I advised them of the appointment and told them somebody over the age of 18 had to be there for the duration of the install appointment.

So here we are, the night before the appointment, they contact me and tell me they thought they had someone to come over, but now they don`t and they feel it`s my responsibility as their landlord to take time off to be there so they don`t have to.

This seems ridiculous to me...if they were paying a bank to live there instead of me, they wouldn`t expect someone from the bank to come over to wait for repair people...surely I`m not obligated to do so...am I.  This is in Ontario Canada by the way.

Please excuse the odd punctuation...something up with the keyboard.

Thanks,

Rob

[Ryan B.]

It doesn't seem ridiculous to me.  Your analogy on what would happen if they were "paying a bank" isn't really applicable.  They aren't paying a bank, they don't own it. 

The "responsibility" to facilitate the repair hinges on which party your lease says is responsible for the item in need of repair.  For my places, and it seems yours, the landlord is responsible for the HVAC (provided the tenant properly changes the filters).  In most cases, the tenant really wants the AC/heat working ASAP and will meet the technician.  

For my HVAC installs, I either schedule it ASAP when a tenant can be home, and if they can't then I offer to be present myself, but then it would be subject to my availability.  Your tenants don't seem all that concerned with getting it fixed.  So, in your situation, I'd figure out when it is convenient for me, and then schedule it then.