As a a renter, are you liable for appliances?

[Ryan Ballance]

A friend of mine has a landlord in CA who made his own lease agreement requiring the tenants to be responsible for replacing any appliances including normal wear and tear. (Appliances were supplied by landlord and are old and cheap). Is this legal?

[Account Closed]

A tenant should never rent a unit or sign an agreement where the tenant is responsible for appliances, plumbing, or any type of repairs. Those types of landlords should be sent to jail. I see no problem with a landlord stipulating that tenants are responsible or liable for willful damage.

I am a plumbing and HVAC contractor and I deal with scumbag landlords every day. They rent units to tenants with drain pipes that are 80-years old and the drains are 99.95% clogged the day the tenants move in. When the tenant calls the landlord the landlord tells the tenant to real the lease and the tenant has to pay to clean the drain, or sewer when the landlord should have cleaned it before the tenant moved in. I had such a case where my wife's friend moved into an apartment a few months ago and the tub drain was clogged the day she moved in. The landlord insisted the tenant must have done something to cause the drain to clog.

For your case, I would definitely take the landlord to small claims court. Back in 1973, I was stupid enough to sign such a lease without reading the fine print. When I signed the leas I told the landlord the stove was upside down in the garage. She told me she would deliver another stove. I moved into the unit and there was no hot water because the tank was leaking. I called the landlord and she told me to read the lease. I was responsible for the plumbing. So, I paid for a new water heater and installed it. The garbage disposer and kitchen faucet was leaking. So, I replaced them.

Then, the worse thing happened. I called the landlord about not having a stove and she told me the lease indicated that there was a stove and since I signed the lease acknowledging there was a stove then I was responsible for any damage to the stove that was in the garage. I broke my lease by moving out of the unit. The landlord took me to court and I lost in court because the landlord knew the judge on a personal basis. I appealed the case, got the same judge, never said one word in either case to defend myself and I lost a 2nd time.

I still recommend that you take the landlord to court because a judge will probably invalidate the statement for responsibility, or liability with the exception of malicious damage.