[punchline at the end] I have a legacy tenant that has been living in the building since purchase (7 years ago) and they recently killed their gas range with only one of 4 burners working. When they notified me it was not working, I did an inspection and it appeared that the burners were shot and clogged with burned grease. The stove was fairly dirty and I took some pictures. I had another used stove available, did a quick clean, tested that it worked, and swapped it out. When tenant saw new (used) stove they freaked-out since #1 it was used and they wanted a new stove, #2 I did a decent job cleaning the stove and burners but the oven had some stains and was less than pristine. They demanded I come a remove the new (used) stove -- I think not.
I notified them in writing that purchase of a new stove via withholding rent is not authorized. They are pissed and sending me pictures of the inside of the oven on a daily basis. Now to the punchline... unit is rent-controlled and tenant is paying less than 1/2 market rent, so I am in no mood to buy nice new appliances for them. If they do withhold rent then they could be served a 3-day notice and be evicted if not paid.
My question, dear forum members is, should I go and clean stove, take pictures, etc.. or let them follow-through on threat to withhold rent? I would not want to get into an eviction and then lose based on a habitability claim of an unclean stove.
"A watched pot never boils"
