All Forum Posts by: Matthew John

Thanks all for the replies. 

I spoke with a lawyer today about the situation. The tenant complaining was aware of the 1 furnace in the property and he knew he had complete control over it. He's also lived in the property now for 8 months. 

The lawyer said this is not a legal problem, but a business problem. He suggested to raise the rent (it's already slightly higher than market) and pay the entire bill myself. If I did this, I would be losing around $100 - $125 in cash flow per month, with the potential to lose more because of how reckless the tenant is with the heat. 

The tenant has no legal case here, but at the same time I don't want him trying to strong arm me or withholding rent. 

The property has split utilities. They each have their own hot water tank. The only thing shared is the furnace and the cost of installing a furnace for the upper unit (under 450 sqft) is not worth it. It might be worth it to hire an HVAC professional to close off the ducts to the upper unit and get a couple baseboard heater for the top floor (as suggested here), but I really need to weigh the costs here. 

@Michael Noto I like the idea, how would I block off the furnace so it only goes to the bottom unit then?

@Andrew Boettcher Indeed! I’ve already scheduled a meeting with my lawyer, but wanted to get BP’s opinion!

@Michael Doherty Based on the usage the tenants have on their consumers bill, that would add about $150/m extra to me. I’m sure they’d be more reckless with the furnace if I had to pay, too. That totally crushes my cash flow so I don’t really like that idea.

@Nathan G. it’s a gas furnace. This was disclosed up front. He was very much aware there is only 1 furnace for the entire house and he has full control over it. I told him that was a perk to his unit.

He’s been a tenant for 8 months and this wasn’t ever an issue. Now he got a bill from Feb - May and he’s not happy with how much he owes so he wants me to reimburse him for half of it.

The problem is he’s reckless with the heat. He was under the impression if he’s not home, he’s not using the heat. He just has it set to 70° the entire time, so it pretty much runs all the time since we’re in Michigan.

He’s on his 2nd month of a 12 month lease now and he started having these issues. I figure at this point it’s best to talk to HVAC professional and see if we can lock the furnace down to bottom unit only and install baseboard heat upstairs.

@James Wise  

The downstairs tenant is paying $950/m. I pay water, they pay gas and electric. Upstairs tenant is paying $600/m.

They each have their own gas bill, but the bottom unit is the one paying for the furnace use which ultimately heats both units.

I don’t want to pay their gas bill because the downstairs tenant does not manage the furnace and just leaves it at 70° all winter/summer, even after he’s told to actively manage the thermostat so he can reduce costs.

Just trying to find the solution. He’s been a tenant for 8 months, just resigned a 1 year lease and this is the first time he’s started complaining asking the me to cover half his bill.

@Alex S. good idea, but how would that prevent the furnace from pushing heat up to the top unit? Maybe I’d have to call an HVAC contractor to block off vents going upstairs.

Hey guys, 

I have a upper/lower Duplex that only has 1 furnace. It's setup right now so the tenants each have their own Gas bill in their name, but one of the tenant's bills is considerably higher than the others. 

The tenant in the bottom unit poorly manages the furnace, leaving it on almost at all times. He's accumulated quite a large bill because of this. 

The house was originally a SFH, but it was converted into a Duplex before I bought it. Each tenant has their own Hot Water Heater, but 1 Furnace heats the entire house. The lower unit, which controls the furnace, is around 950sqft and the upper unit is around 450sqft.

The bottom unit tenant is challenging me, demanding I reimburse him for the heat which is going towards the 2nd floor. He's withholding rent right now saying I need to cover half his bill since his heating costs are going towards the upper unit. 

I'm curious to know what's the right thing to do in this situation...

I've explained to the Bottom tenant he has the luxury of controlling the temperature of the house. The upper tenant has complained to me multiple times about it being too hot in his unit because the bottom tenant does not actively manage the thermostat. He leaves the heat on 'all the time', even when he's not home or in the warmer months of summer. 

Now the bottom tenant is withholding rent until I 'pay him half his bill' because he's paying for the upper unit's heat. 

What do you think I should do in this situation?

@Account Closed Thank you!

@Michael O. We did do as much as possible ourselves. Paint/flooring...hired a plumber and concrete guy, but we did have some help from family which probably saved 5k. Happy to meetup, but not a coffee drinker. I go to a lot of the REIAs in Metro Detroit, too! Feel free to DM me.