appliances

[kkat]

What is the name of your state? Texas
I lease a duplex and have been living there for a year and a half. The following appliances were in the home when I moved in:
refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher and microwave.
Here is the situation.
The appliances are in terrible condition and have been from day one.
I have sent letters, including a certified letter asking for repairs on the appliances as well as other repairs since I noticed the condition which was the first month.
I am on time with the rent and all communications have been friendly.
The Landlord even agreed to supply another refrigerator and do some other much needed repairs. That was in April.
Are the appliances his responsibility ?
A repair man the landlord uses says he won't "fix" any of the appliances because he did not supply them to me. They were left in the house by former renters.
What is the answer here? Do the appliances need to be in the lease agreement?
Thanks
kkat

 

[FarmerJ]

Many LLs do list appliances that are included in a rental . when the LL or LLs agent claims the apppliances were left by the last tenant the best thing to do is to send the LL a written letter certified mail asking them to come pick up the appliances so you can get your own that you will take with you when you do decide to move out and do take pictures of the old ones. so you can show what condition they are in to a court some day if you need too.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? Texas
I lease a duplex and have been living there for a year and a half. The following appliances were in the home when I moved in:
refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher and microwave.
Here is the situation.
The appliances are in terrible condition and have been from day one.
I have sent letters, including a certified letter asking for repairs on the appliances as well as other repairs since I noticed the condition which was the first month.
I am on time with the rent and all communications have been friendly.
The Landlord even agreed to supply another refrigerator and do some other much needed repairs. That was in April.
Are the appliances his responsibility ?
A repair man the landlord uses says he won't "fix" any of the appliances because he did not supply them to me. They were left in the house by former renters.
What is the answer here? Do the appliances need to be in the lease agreement?
Thanks
kkat

**A: are any of those listed appliances listed in your lease?

 

[kkat]

HomeGuru,
I need to check the lease agreement but seriously doubt it.
The LL is a slum lord. He owns several duplexes in my neighborhood and that is what I hear from many sources.
I know in my heart he won't do any repairs. Because of many reasons (I am elderly & cannot afford to move, blah, blah) I want to renew the lease in Feb. I just need to know the correct way to go about TRYING to negotiate in my favor.
An example of the poor quality of just one of the appliances:
The refrigerator...........Before I moved in I asked if there was a frig. He let me use one from another rental. My kids retrieved it and cleaned it up before we put it in the house.......black mold, etc., etc.
It constantly drips water into the door and fills the egg compartment, and water collects under the vegetable drawers.
Nasty Hun ?

 

[south]

Why does a faulty appliance make him a slumlord?

Another tenant throwing the slumlord word around...

Do you have rats?
Are the ceilings falling down?
Crack house?
Are the windows falling out?
Is it damp and mildewy through out the apartment?
Is there trash pilling up in the corridors?


As for appliances as you stated the repairman told you they were left by the previous tenants, throw them out if you do not want them.

HomeGuru,
I need to check the lease agreement but seriously doubt it.
The LL is a slum lord. He owns several duplexes in my neighborhood and that is what I hear from many sources.
I know in my heart he won't do any repairs. Because of many reasons (I am elderly & cannot afford to move, blah, blah) I want to renew the lease in Feb. I just need to know the correct way to go about TRYING to negotiate in my favor.
An example of the poor quality of just one of the appliances:
The refrigerator...........Before I moved in I asked if there was a frig. He let me use one from another rental. My kids retrieved it and cleaned it up before we put it in the house.......black mold, etc., etc.
It constantly drips water into the door and fills the egg compartment, and water collects under the vegetable drawers.
Nasty Hun ?

 

[kkat]

south
You are an arrogant piece of work.
I do not live in an apartment so no trash piling up in the corridors, Yes, I have mildew, in fact the first month I moved in the air conditioner broke and it was covered in black mold and it took months of heat before the LL would repair it, YES I have rats that come in through the broken/rotted falling wood near the roof & above the windows, and YES IT WAS A CRACK HOUSE before I moved in..........I CLEANED UP ALL THE Paraphernalia when I moved in and I am not throwing the word slumlord around. The neighbor that occupied the other side of my duplex moved out because of the LL .
If you had bothered to read what I have said I want to stay & all communications have been friendly. Long posts seem to get a response similar to your reaction SO I did not state how bad of shape the house is in, I simply wanted to know how to approach my LL to get better results with repairs on the appliances.

Give some people a forum and they act like idiots.
Don't respond to a post if you are so bias that you can't see past your own BS.

 

[duplexowner]

Even if the appliances are not listed in the lease, part of your agreement was to rent the apartment and appliances inside the unit. If the fridge went out, regardless if not listed in the lease, I think he would be held liable to fix it. Make sure you distinguish between in need of repair, and completely not working or serving its intended fucntion. There is a big difference between not working that great and not working at all.

If they aren't in the lease, and left behind from the previous tenants, try contacting them to verify, and you may be out of luck.

Lastly, keep in mind that if the landlord is truely not holding up on his end of the deal, send him 30 days notice requesting repairs. If they aren't done at 30days, pay rent in escrow to the courts to hold until repairs are done.

 

[ENASNI]

Even if the appliances are not listed in the lease, part of your agreement was to rent the apartment and appliances inside the unit. If the fridge went out, regardless if not listed in the lease, I think he would be held liable to fix it. Make sure you distinguish between in need of repair, and completely not working or serving its intended fucntion. There is a big difference between not working that great and not working at all.

If they aren't in the lease, and left behind from the previous tenants, try contacting them to verify, and you may be out of luck.

Lastly, keep in mind that if the landlord is truely not holding up on his end of the deal, send him 30 days notice requesting repairs. If they aren't done at 30days, pay rent in escrow to the courts to hold until repairs are done.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/pr.toc.htm

Sorry, a lot of things wrong with this reply by duplexowner. It does matter what is in the lease and what is not. I would say that this Fridge if not on the list of appurtenances, does not fall under the landlords responsibilty. Think about it... it was taken from another apartment, abandoned junk... Already in disrepair, almost as if it was taken from a junk-yard. It is the tenant's own to take care of IMO.. The other things in the house like the stove or whatever if were attached to the dwelling is more of a gray area. Our Kkat here seems to be mewwing about the Fridge though.

Now as south is arrogant and a piece of work, he has a point, and I stick by him like no tomorrow. There is no knowing from your first post what is going on, and there is no knowing that you just did not add all that globity-gook to make your self look better because he rubbed your fur the wrong way.

Slumlords are real real real crummy, and this guy is just plain lazy. You have to know your rights as a tenant and you would not have had that A/C problem for so long as it is spelled out in your state's law what you could have done about that.

There is repair and deduct law for your state, but not a rent withholding to an escrow account (that I could find).

If you have problems in the future in the dwelling try this site.
http://www.texastenant.org/index.html
In the meantime.. Get someone to fix YOUR fridge, or buy a new one.

 

[kkat]

duplexowner,
Thank you for your post. I totally agree with all you are saying. As I stated in prior posts I would like to renew the lease and keep a friendly relation with the LL.
I am just frustrated because this is my home, whether I own or lease. I can live with some of the inconveniences of faulty appliances, etc. BUT, it does present everyday problems that I think he, as the owner should be responsible for.
As for contacting the prior tenants, I think that to be a good idea, although, the lady that lived there before I moved in is in jail..............for selling Crack!

I do know that to enforce some repairs their has to be a situation where ones Health is threatened.
Heck, I know that by law the home should have a working smoke detector, which it does not. I asked for that a year ago. Sent the certified letter , did it all.......the LL just blows it off.
I DO NOT want to take him to court I just want some leverage for negotiating better terms/repairs when it is time to renew the lease. No one wants to move into a lease home & start spending money on repairs.

 

[south]

Is it, is it, is it safe to come out?

Well by your statements you knew what kind of place you were renting and the history and you still took it, so there for you cannot bitch so loud, you accepted the home and its history.

Moving into a slum then trying to force a landlord to turn a slum into the Belaggio by pure naggery is not always going to work out for you, he is probably a slumlord and will not change over night.

You start your post by bitching about appliances that you want fixed that were left by a previous tenant so throw them out, the landlord did not offer those in the lease. Get Over IT. You then say the landlord is a slum lord because of it like I said the appliances not part of a lease do not make a slumlord. The rest you added later,

And please by all means use me as an emotional punch bag, you asked a question the paragraph you gave was read for what it states, and answered accordingly, you sound like the sort of person that lashes out if people do not agree with every word you say.

P.S I am not your landlord and I do not owe you anything.

duplexowner,
Thank you for your post. I totally agree with all you are saying. As I stated in prior posts I would like to renew the lease and keep a friendly relation with the LL.
I am just frustrated because this is my home, whether I own or lease. I can live with some of the inconveniences of faulty appliances, etc. BUT, it does present everyday problems that I think he, as the owner should be responsible for.
As for contacting the prior tenants, I think that to be a good idea, although, the lady that lived there before I moved in is in jail..............for selling Crack!

I do know that to enforce some repairs their has to be a situation where ones Health is threatened.
Heck, I know that by law the home should have a working smoke detector, which it does not. I asked for that a year ago. Sent the certified letter , did it all.......the LL just blows it off.
I DO NOT want to take him to court I just want some leverage for negotiating better terms/repairs when it is time to renew the lease. No one wants to move into a lease home & start spending money on repairs.

 

[ENASNI]

Is it, is it, is it safe to come out?

You come on out southie hon... you had no idea they were gonna tell a story after that first post.

You are my emotional punching bag, nobody elses.. you just remember that.

 

[south]

Thanks ENASNI... Nothing more scary than when someone tells a story while the real version is sneaking up behind you during your response.

You come on out southie hon... you had no idea they were gonna tell a story after that first post.

You are my emotional punching bag, nobody elses.. you just remember that.

 

[kkat]

your response is perfect. You are an ignorant piece of work. FYI, I was not bitching and knew nothing about the history until after I moved in. This forum is evidentially a place for people like you ( and the other jokers) to feel important. Not worth my time to defend statements I know are true.
Get a real job, your a punk.

 

[ENASNI]

"Are you talking to ME?"


Robert Dinero.. Taxi Driver

 

[south]

BACK OFF ENASNI ... that insult was for me and its all mine!

Get a real job?? ... Puzzled??

But I dont have to work, and I threw my alarm clock out years ago when I was ummm 24-25.

I used to be a punk died hair piercings all the trimmings then I was thrown into the army where I was told the died hair zippers and chains had to go because the enemy could hear me coming a mile away.

"Are you talking to ME?"


Robert Dinero.. Taxi Driver