Since I also live in Florida, I am going to throw my 2 cents in.
1st: It is too hot here to expect to rent a place for reasonable money if you don't have A/C- unless this is a very low end type of property. My thought is you would want the home/condo to have A/C so it won't become full of mold and mildew because of constant humidity. Granted, the tenant may not use the A/C and this could happen anyhow, but it's unlikely-most people don't want to be sweating all day. The property was not rented out with mildew (I'm assuming)so if it comes back that way, I would use the sec dep to fix it. At any rate, I would say you were correct to repair/replace an A/C unit when necessary.2nd, what kind of contract do you have with the rental agency? Why would you and the rental agency not know what is working and not working at the time you hand over the property to be rented? I would say they are responsible to answer to the tenant about any time issues here-they dropped the ball but you got the problem fixed within a reasonable amount of time when you were notified. In Florida, the LL has 7 days to effect normal repairs from the time of notification unless it is electric, water or heat-those need emergency attention. I think A/C is not considered a mandatory utility, but life here in Florida is miserable if you don't have it! Make sure the rental agency notifies you of anything in writing (fax, email)to protect yourself and keep records. 3rd- Why were you not aware they had rented it? Something is not right here. Don't you have any input as to who it's rented to? Don't they screen the person and let you know who they have as a potential tenant? I wouldn't continue to use this rental agency as they are incompetent and perhaps not truthful. If this didn't break, were they going to tell you it wasn't rented until August 1? Just a thought.
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