All Forum Posts by: Kat Hughes

@Kat Hughes this honestly is a situation you need to seek more legal advice.  If they're that nervous and stuck footing the bill for what they think isn't their responsibility then paying for legal will provide the closure they need.

If they want to go cheap, go to a local college law school and see if they have a small claims pro-bono program.

Well did anyone review the lease agreement?

When this ends up in court can you keep us posted, because there is a 100% chance this ends in court. Your friends probably let the delivery people take the old fridge (because where will they store a fridge) and now the landlord will demand they leave the old fridge there. Your friends are going to refuse (rightfully) and take the fridge with them, the landlord is going to take it from their security deposit. He will keep far more than he should (Claims $1k but bought a used fridge for $200 in cash with zero legal proof of anything) and then your friends are going to sue in small claims and win and I believe CA is 3x damages. The landlord will be an old guy on Judge Judy all shocked and pissed off and saying how this isn't right and it is all the tenant's fault. Your friends will win in the end and it won't be worth it. BTW, they should have called the city and complained when he refused to fix the fridge. The washer and drier is one thing that can be explained away to the town, the fridge is a necessity and they would have made him fix it. They also would have made him turn over all of the post dated checks because that probably isn't allowed. 

Your friends need to learn to read what they sign . I’d be willing to bet they agreed to repair or replace any damaged appliances in that lease . Are these people adults or grown up children because this is pretty elementary stuff . Why did they buy a 1500$ fridge ? Geez ! A new fridge can be bought for around 500$ at Home Depot if you don’t care about digital displays ice makers and stainless steel . In fact I just bought a nice working used whirlpool large capacity fridge on Facebook marketplace for 75$

@Kat Hughes Hey Kat, you may be surprised when your friends re-review the lease, as they might find that they signed a lease, which stipulates exactly just that. 

Now, if that isn't the case, then surely the landlord is 100% responsible for the repairs and as others have suggested they can get him by cancelling those postdated checks and placing the monthly in an escrow account until the landlord repairs the appliances and/or reimburses them for the fridge at least.  

My guess is that this landlord is dodgy from the start by getting them to write postdated checks for a whole year! 😮

Hi Kat, this sounds like a tricky/conditional situation but the first place you should turn towards is the lease. That lease is key. Additionally, I'm of a similar notion as what others have expressed above; as someone who just signed a lease a couple of months ago, I'd personally never give a landlord 12 post-dated checks. That spells trouble to me. But, this tactic may go against what your state law merits (big disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer/legal counsel and don't want to steer you wrong, but your biggest possibility of any type of recourse is that lease; I'd probably reach out to legal counsel to see if there's anything the landlord has done to violate this lease). I'm sorry you're dealing with that. There are other great resources out there as well if you end up back on the hunt for a rental. Happy to help when I can. @Kat Hughes

@Kat Hughes assuming the lease doesn't state the tenants are responsible for repairs, then the landlord would be responsible. If the landlord is responsible and refused to make such repairs, the tenants can generally withhold rent to pay for reasonable repairs. I would only do this in extreme cases after multiple documented attempts to work with the landlord. They also need to keep all receipts on the repairs. 

This is complicated because the tenants have given the landlord post dated checks. I don't think it is legal to force tenants to give you post dated checks. They could place a stop payment on all those checks and close the account. The problem is writing post dated checks without intent for them to be cashed or without funds to cover is check kiting. Of course they could argue they had intent at the time of writing, until the landlord violated their contract. I am not sure how it would play out in court. 

I would never give a landlord post dated checks. If that was a condition of renting, I would pass and find another property. It is not at all common practice in the leasing industry to require post dated checks.

Look at the lease. In some of my rentals I do state that the range and fridge maintenance and repair are the responsibility of the tenant. 

And as far as the fridge goes, tell them to keep the non-working fridge that belongs to the landlord. Once the lease is up they can take their new fridge and leave the landlord's non-working fridge. 

@Kat Hughes I would have them cancel those checks and mail new checks every month. That way, if the landlord is not holding up his end of the bargain, you can put the rent in am escrow account until issues are resolved.

@Kat Hughes  If the leases states they are included in the rent, then the landlord should have paid to replace it. If they bought a new fridge (they should have been able to find one for less than $1500), then when they move, they get to take the fridge with them.  
There are a few other threads about appliances in rentals and whether they are standard or not.  Where I am, the appliances are included in the rental and therefore if they break, the landlord pays to fix or replace them-they exception being if the tenant did something that caused them to break.