Tenant moved out complaint of no repair - Landlord Forum thread 350206

Tenant moved out complaint of no repair by Allen (Illinois ) on January 17, 2017 @20:49

I am new landlord in Illinois. Single T rented house with two bathrooms. T remained in house after 1 year lease ended and continued on M 2 M. LL discovered one of tubs was disconnected under house and asked T if ok to use only one of the tubs/showers. T agreed since only him living there. Took several months to dry under house and to get maintenance guy there. I finally got a maintenance guy to fix the pipe under the bad tub. T voiced his displeasure that we were there and disturbed him. We left and did not return to repair the tub. About 6 months after discovering the tub problem T moved out. After T received the Statement of Deductions, T claims he should not have to pay the cleaning costs because he rented house with two bathrooms and did not have use of the other tub that was disconnected. The security deposit was not enough to cover all the damages. Does T have a case now after lease is over and T moved out.

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Re: Tenant moved out complaint of no repair by Anonymous on January 17, 2017 @20:54	[ Reply ]

"Took several months to dry under house and to get maintenance guy there." Oh dear, that's way too long. "About 6 months after discovering the tub problem T moved out." So it remained unfixed for 6 months? You are a business owner. You have a responsibility to keep your property in working order and a responsibility to your tenants (customers). "he rented house with two bathrooms and did not have use of the other tub" This is 100% true. What a mess. You can indeed make deductions from the security deposit as you would for any exiting tenant, but you may want to consider returning the tenant's SD and hope that he doesn't contact a lawyer. You messed up big time taking so long to get that tub repaired.

Re: Tenant moved out complaint of no repair by Anonymous on January 17, 2017 @21:12	[ Reply ]

There is no reason the repair could have been done and then the area dried out. Several months to make repair is not acceptable. Yes the tenant has a case because you breached the terms of the lease. The tenant can sue for the diminished value of the rental and win, which means you could owe damages, court cost and tenants attorney fees. Work out a compromise with the tenant.