Property owners vs tenants rights

[Steven E Lasseigne]

My wife and I recently bought our first rental property from a turnkey co. A tenant moved in and found out that their refrigerator did not fit in the area for the fridge due to some upper cabinets. So she went to our property manager to ask to remove the cabinets. 

I found out that we were billed for the removal. When I questioned it he said it is the property owners responsibility to provide adequate space for tenants appliances. He said since the house  was built in the 1950s and refrigerators were shorter then today's refrigerators its the owners responsibility to provide adequate space. The house is located in Memphis Tn in case laws are different state to state. My questions are 

1. can a tenant remove cabinets under repairs so the property Mgr does not have to get our permission to the repairs if under $250 Per mgmt agreement. Or are we financially obligated at all to pay for this?

2. When the Turnkey Co. was rehabbing the house wouldn't it be their responsibility to see this and make sure the space would fit today's refrigerators?

Thank you in advance