All Forum Posts by: Jesse Collins

Quote from @Richard Elvin:

I'm not wanting to be rude, but this is truly baffling to me.

You stated, "This is exactly what my attorney recommended.". 
If your attorney has already given you advice, why are you asking strangers on the internet?

Because Richard,

when I first posted this I was waiting for a response from my attorney. Also, my attorney knows a lot about real estate law, not necessarily all things real estate. Getting more perspectives can only serve to be beneficial in a situation which is foreign. 

Quote from @Daren H.:

Let them go before its gets nasty. This Texas heat will make people do some strange things. What is the remedy long term? I don't see it getting any cooler in Texas summers. 

 Depending on if the soffit vents and attic fans make a difference, we will add an additional source of cooling (mini-split unit).

Quote from @Ari Krepostman:

I'm not an attorney, and not familiar with the laws of Texas, but it seems to me that under normal circumstances, if they want to leave now, they are liable for the month they have stayed, plus whatever they have promised to pay based on the lease. That means if they have a 1-year lease, they could be liable to pay the remaining months of the 1-year lease. Double check that by re-rereading your lease, checking with local (Texas) laws or law forums, and then calmly inform your tenants using cordial (not legal) language in an email and/or on the phone.

Also tell them you are willing to let them stop paying if and when you get a new tenant that meets reasonable standards as a responsible tenant who can afford the property so that they do not need to continue paying for a rental property they are not inhabiting.

If they threaten to take you to court of course you can calmly let them know that that's their choice, if they want to attempt this, but ultimately this might backfire on them if the court determines they'd be liable for the whole year of the lease.

Basically just remain calm and let them know you're willing to work with them to help them out of the situation if they're not happy with the property, but ultimately just as they need to live, so do you.

 Thank you for the feedback. This is exactly what my attorney recommended.

Quote from @Scott Mac:

Also, if you have some kind of green energy saving thermostat that micro manages the temperature throughout the day, that might be an issue.

An old school Honeywell with no adjustments might be worth a try.

Even a low IQ renter should be able to handle these.

 Hey Scott,

It's a standard Honeywell home thermostat. I don't think that would be an issue since all of my other properties have this and are preforming adequately.

Quote from @Scott Mac:

I have no trouble keeping my personal residence at 68 degrees no matter how hot it gets outside.

I can pull it down to 60 if I want.

If this were my rental, I would have a thermal scan done of it, and see if the building is the problem, and if so how much of the problem.

The other thought is you may have too much tonnage of A/C which lets the unit run (NOT) long enough or not as many times during the day to properly cool the unit.

It seems to me that maybe, (not an A/C tech) if your tonnage was too low, it would run more and the portable A/C units would help pull the temperature down.

You might have too much coolant, or not enough coolant. 

All techs are not equal in their diagnostic skill regarding coolant amounts.

Silver roofs are cooler than black roofs.

White houses are cooler than dark blue houses.

Thermal window tint may help (but it has a service life).

Maybe your electrical company offers a free energy assessment with a thermal scan (???)

Good Luck!

 Hi Scott, 

Thank you for the information.

We have already had a thermal scan done, and our insulation looks good. The roof is black, but also brand new. 

I will definitely look into your other suggestions mentioned.

Quote from @Jim Adrian:

There is no reason why on 100 degree days you cant reach 74 degrees.  Have you made concessions, sure.  But texas sees more prolonged heat and you will continue to have problems unit you fix it. 

I would get a building envelop person out to check out your house and see where the house is leaking from with a thermal imaging gun.  AC units are typically designed for 90 to 95 "degree day" temp. When temps exceeds "design degree day" temp the unit runs longer and harder. Your ac unit may be low on freon or really dirty.   Attic insul should be atleast R-38 and walls should have continuous insul of R-5 plus R-13 in the studs (IECC 2018 commercial).  More continuous insul the better. If you have old windows and window blinds are left open this will bake the inside as well. 

I have a 1935 house in Nebraska and have no issues with keep it cool on 100 degree days and 70% humidity.  We are have a week of 115 heat index days right now.  It cools better than my house.  Its undersized for only 90 degree days but i can still keep it 73 and the house is in full sun due to no trees (newer development). 

 Hi Jim, 

They just replaced the coil and reloaded freon in the brand new HVAC system. Also, the HVAC company took a thermal heat gun out there and our insulation looks good according to them. Brand new energy efficient windows in both sides of the duplex. We have a higher R value in the attic than you mentioned, and equivalent to the R value mentioned in the walls.

HVAC guy on the phone just said Texas set a record for the most amount of days over 80 degrees ever recorded. According to him, the unit usually has time to catch back up, but given the constant heat, this isn't happening. He also said that many new construction homes he is doing are temping at around 80+ degrees as well. 

Thank you for your feedback and insight.

Quote from @Scott Trench:

I'd ask yourself - what would you do if you moved into the property? Would you use the solutions you provided? Or would you need something else done? You'll find your answer there. 

And, likely, it's that the root problem of the place not being able to maintain a reasonable temperature has not been resolved. Despite your well-intentioned efforts.

 Scott,

Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate and value your advice. I like and understand the perspective of putting myself in others shoes. Regarding this specific topic, I have recommended some common things that tenants can do to reduce heat in their home. Here are a few:

1. Blackout curtains (they did not do this)

2. Portable units (which I offer two, and they declined one of them despite us paying for the electricity usage) 

3. (This one is recent) They have 3 gaming desktop computers. 

After doing some research on this, I have found that high performance desktops can produce extreme heat, and can often effect the temperature in a house by multiple degrees. As stated in a previous mention, the other side of the duplex is keeping up decently well. I am not convinced this is a problem induced by us, or that we should be responsible for it if they are off-putting excessive heat. 

We are planning to reduce the attic heat by installing soffit vents and roof fans, as that was the only recommendation suggested by the HVAC companies. A/C unit wise, they are preforming as expected. The insulation is well beyond requirements. The unit keeps up fine when the heat is below 100 degrees outside.  

If I were in their shoes, I would try to be apart of the solution, not the problem. 

Thanks again for your response and feedback.

Quote from @Travis Timmons:

Let them out of the lease and properly fix the problem. Get a heat pump/mini split or central AC. You're in Texas; A/C is more important than water. You need A/C that will keep the house in the 70s. Full stop, period, end of story.

 Hi Travis,

I value your opinion as we share the same state. We have a 2 ton central A/C unit on both sides of the duplex. One side is maintaining in the 70s, while the other is not. We offered them two rolling units as mentioned, and they have only accepted and retained one. I am certain the two additional rolling units, they could keep it in the 70s. 

Note- this would not cost them more, because we are covering the estimated electricity usage for cooling right now. 

However, based on this, it seems to me that are intensionally attempting to magnify the problem by not assisting in rectifying the issue.

Hello everyone,

I have a property located a little ways outside of the DFW metroplex (east). It is a duplex. I am having problems with a tenant, and their heating/cooling. For context, this duplex was built in 1900 and has original shiplap walls and ceilings, with a few rooms being dry wall. We did a full remodel on this property, installed new HVAC and fully insulated it. 

When the tenants moved in, the HVAC unit was not keeping up all day. It would start out at the desired temperature, but would slowly start creeping hotter to 82 degrees. It was never 80+ degrees for more than a few hours a day. For those of you who make not know, Texas has had an extreme heat warning from about the past month with heat reaching 100-111 degrees. On days that are 90-95 degrees, the unit keep up.

Since the issue started, these are the steps we have taken to address the issue:

1. Giving two portable A/C 14,000 BTU units on wheels which can be moved from room to room. 
2. Adding attic fans in the attic to reduce heat.
3. Adding 9 additional inches of insulation to the already insulated attic.
4. Adding door sweepers to better insulate the exterior doors.

5. 2 different HVAC companies have evaluated the units and have said that this is the best it can do given the excessive heat and older house. They have serviced the units 4 times in this 30 day window.

The utilities we have kept in our name and billed the tenants. We told them we would cover 45% of the electricity from this past month, as that was what we estimated their usage for cooling was on their unit. 

Despite our trying to accommodate them, they have been very ugly to us. I understand it is hot, but we have made every attempt to rectify the issue. We are going to install more soffit vents and roof attic fans to try and reduce attic heat. So we are still trying, but they have told us that they would like to be relieved from the lease agreement.

When they moved in, they paid 3 months of rent + deposit + pet deposit. They are a little over a month into the lease and are demanding their money back. In our lease agreement, there is an acceleration clause. If the tenant breaks the lease prematurely, they are in default. The remedy for tenant default in our agreement is the acceleration clause mentioned. All the rent becomes due effective immediately. 

They are threatening to take us to small claims court, because they are stating we violated the agreement. I have looked over the agreement, and cannot find anything which would indicate that.

I am looking for advice to how to handle this situation, and what their legal remedy would be for breaking this lease. It doesn’t seem to me like they have a case. However, I have never had this specific situation occur. Any advice or thoughts are welcome.