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Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct - Landlord Forum thread 338422

Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct by Garry (Iowa) on August 27, 2015 @23:41

                              
Let her deduct it from the rent, and be done with it. She handled it on her own, and she's HAPPY now. (isn't that what you want?) You would have had to pay SOMEONE to repair it, and there's no way you could have gotten a repair person there faster than she did. It could have been a day or 2 for you to get someone there, and you would have her calling every 6 hours complaining, and maybe even threatening to sue you. True, you haven't been told how much the bill will be yet, but just think if you would have called a repairman, and they came overnight, and charged you DOUBLE TIME for their services. Don't let this situation turn ugly, just over the "principle" of the thing.
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Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct by Anonymous on August 28, 2015 @10:06 [ Reply ]
You would do this without verifying a) that there was indeed a problem, and b) that the person who did the work is licensed to do so?
    Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct by Garry (Iowa) on August 28, 2015 @12:31 [ Reply ]
    YES! Do you really think the T (or any T.) is going to call the LL late at night, and real early the next day, and then decide to try to get the job done on their own accord, IF THERE WASN'T A PROBLEM ? And not every, single, solitary problem requires a LICENSED person to repair something. Even in cities, counties, and states where the laws say you must hire a licensed person to do work on certain things, do you REALLY, TRULY BELIEVE that all LLs strictly follow those laws? I agree, it's in the best interests of the LL to do so, but in reality, there are many, many people out there that know how to repair things, but are not LICENSED to do so. In this case, the T took it upon herself to get the ac working again. That also means that she is now responsible if the ac quits working again, because of what her friend did to fix it, just as a licensed repair person would be if he screwed something up, and had to return to fix it again.
    Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct by Anonymous on August 28, 2015 @16:30 [ Reply ]
    Like you, I would have preferred to actually verify there really was a problem with the AC. All too often it's a matter of the tenant not changing the air filter, or not setting the termostate control correctly. I would not pay for a problem I haven't verified. Tenant may just be making the problem up to reduce her rent, if you're gullible enough to play along. My lease clearly states that if the tenant contracts for any work on the property without my written permission, the tenant pays the bill.
    Re: Tenant made unauthorized repair & wants to deduct by Anonymous on August 28, 2015 @16:30 [ Reply ]
    Like you, I would have preferred to actually verify there really was a problem with the AC. All too often it's a matter of the tenant not changing the air filter, or not setting the termostate control correctly. I would not pay for a problem I haven't verified. Tenant may just be making the problem up to reduce her rent, if you're gullible enough to play along. My lease clearly states that if the tenant contracts for any work on the property without my written permission, the tenant pays the bill.

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