Tenant took oven, left a new one!

[Lois S.]

SFH, long-term tenant vacated & left it very clean. Have not returned their deposit yet.

For some reason, tenant took our electric range that was installed less than 1 year ago, & replaced it with a new model. Never used, still has some tape in the oven.  They left me the paperwork to send the warranty in, but no receipt. Only a 1 yr warranty. 

The oven comes with a anti-tip bracket which was NOT installed.  I'll have to hire someone do the installation properly.

Has anyone had this happen before?   Any comments?

[JD Martin]

Never had anyone take the range before. The anti-tip bracket literally takes 5 minutes to install. All it is is a metal catch that mounts to the wall that grabs the metal on the back of the stove if someone leans hard on it from the front. If you have a screwdriver, 5 minutes to watch a Youtube video and 5 minutes to put it in, you could install it yourself. 

[Lois S.]

OK. Thanks.  I'm not able to do the install myself, but will check out the video.

[Rodney Sums]

Quote from @Lois S.:

SFH, long-term tenant vacated & left it very clean. Have not returned their deposit yet.

For some reason, tenant took our electric range that was installed less than 1 year ago, & replaced it with a new model. Never used, still has some tape in the oven.  They left me the paperwork to send the warranty in, but no receipt. Only a 1 yr warranty. 

The oven comes with a anti-tip bracket which was NOT installed.  I'll have to hire someone do the installation properly.

Has anyone had this happen before?   Any comments?

Perhaps they broke it. Rather than let you go shopping with their deposit money spending more than what they thought it would take to replace what was damaged, they took control and put one in there.

It sounds like the oven you had didn't have the anti tip bracket installed.  You could do it yourself sure.  I'm one of those worse case scenario type people.  I'd let a vendor do it.  Imagine you installed it wrong, and your tenant's child gets smashed by the oven. You can't pass the buck to the licensed installer.  

Hopefully what they gave you was not a downgrade from what was there.

[Mo Maktari]

My opinion is as long as it's of equal value and properly working, I'd call it a wash. Sounds like a responsible tenant to me. Send them my way lol

[Pat L.]

Yes. 

We had completely gutted & rehabbed a ranch & the new tenant after 4 years left all her 4-5 yr old appliances, new BBQ & patio furniture. She met a guy online & was in a rush to move south & didn't have the time or inclination to sell everything. She had also put in new toilets & all new faucets plus upgraded all the light switch & outlet covers. The old switch plates etc were in a plastic bag in the garage along with our new faucets that she had replaced. The garden shed was full of power tools etc.

The online romance faded in about 24 months & she contacted us hoping to rent again, but we had new tenants. 

Every rental is a book of short stories.

[Nathan Gesner]

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The tenant obviously broke yours and opted to replace it. Consider yourself fortunate.

Anti-tip bracket? I've put in hundreds of ovens and have never installed an anti-tip bracket. I manage 400 rentals and have never had a stove tip. YMMV

[Curtis Mears]

@Lois S.as long as it is a comparable model, move on.

[Jared Boundy]

Sounds like they must have damaged the old oven, so they replaced it. I’d ask, but not care as long as it works. I don’t think I’ve ever had the anti-tip bracket installed in my own homes or rentals, and never had a problem. I also don’t bolt my bookshelves to the wall, but never had either tip over.