Tenant wants to buy his own fridge

[Gina Nicolas]

Good morning all,

I have a quick question for the community. One of my tenant from my  rental that is currently managed by property manager. I received a text from tenant that the freezer is not working and his food is going bad. Property management company cannot get to fix the issue until Monday which will be 5 days later. Tenant is asking me if he can buy his own fridge since his food is going bad. I know refrigerator is included in the lease but from a legal point of view, should I allow him to get his own fridge if yes under what conditions, or should I tell him to wait until Monday.

Thank you all

[Account Closed]

Is the resident asking to purchase and then expects the owner to reimburse him?  If this is the case, tell him no.  You do not want to give control to the resident to select a replacement.

If the resident is offering to purchase and remove when they move out with no expectation of reimbursement, then it's not necessarily a problem.  If this were my resident, I would tell them I expect to put the old refrigerator in the garage (or somewhere secured, inside, on property that it will stay plugged in), and they have to allow a vendor to come in to fix it.  This way, it will be working and ready when you release it to a new resident someday.

If they have food that went bad, I insist residents take pics of what was damaged and then provide a receipt for the replacement items.  (Up to a reasonable amount).

I hope that helps.