Constant Landlord Issues

[Kat Hughes]

Hi!  

I'm posting for a friend who lives in LA.  Her, along with 3 other friends is currently renting a home.  Apparently, the landlord (also the owner of the house), during the negotiation process asked them to write 12 checks for the rent to cover the entire year, with each one post dated for the top of each month.  They were desperate to find a house to rent and found this and got a good deal but the landlord was not going to let them rent if they don't do what he asked.  So they complied.

A month into moving in, washer and dryer broke and the landlord won't do anything about it.  He said it's the tenant's responsibility.  Now the fridge just broke and landlord again said it's their responsibility and even suggested they should buy a new one cuz it's only about $500.00   My friend and her roommates got someone to go their an fix the fridge, only to find out that the fridge is beyond repair so they ended up having to buy a new fridge which cost them $1500.00

What kind of rights do they have?  And are they able to take any action against the land lord?  Are landlords really allowed to ask for 12 checks in advance?  And are tenants really responsible for fixing appliances that the house came with?