First time landlord..a/c isn't working, what to do...

[Harry Campbell]

I just rented out my condo for the first time(in southern california). I lived there for a couple years and never really used the A/C. When it got really hot, I would turn it on once in a while but it never really worked that well. It did always work though.

Anyways, now it's not working and it's gonna cost me 1-2k to repair or 3-5k to put a new one in. There's really no need for A/C 95% of the year so I'm wondering what to do. I'm at the beginning of a 2 year lease with my tenant and don't want to strain the relationship but also can't afford/don't want to spend that much on an item like A/C.

I didn't explicitly state in the ad or the lease that there would be A/C but when the tenant asked me about it during the showing, I said there is A/C but doesn't work well or something to that effect(maybe I said I never really use it, I honestly don't remember).

So is it my responsibility to fix the A/C. From my initial research it sounds like the law is on my side, I don't have to fix the A/C since it's not a required item to maintain standard of living. But I also don't want my tenant to be pissed at me, this has all happened in the last day btw. There is especially hot weather right now and normally the apartment is just fine without AC. I was thinking about maybe just buying a portable unit(5,000 btu's) as a temporary fix for $200-$300 which would be a lot cheaper than repairing/getting a new AC.

Advice?? Thanks!