The standard state rental form here specifies that tenants area responsible for appliance repairs. My lawyer insisted that this be changed. In NY, the lease I signed was not a standard form, so I’m not sure what the common practice is. In both cases, the rental markets were very tight and I was desperate.
I don’t think he is going to refuse to renew the lease if I insist on working appliances - I’m just hyperaware that he could put the house on the market and sell it for a small fortune. He could put it on the market and sell it next weekend, specifying a delayed closing after my lease is over.
I just don’t want to tip the balance in his mind toward selling by making it a pain to manage a rental.
He could put the house on the market for sale even if you don’t mention the broken appliance to him.
Seriously…just ask. It’s not your appliance. And you should not be fixing it. For all you know…he has been anticipating replacing this thing for a while.
Check the law but most states you can send a formal letter (send via registered mail) that you are withholding rent until xxxxxx is fixed. This will protect you from eviction and force the owner to fix the issue.
Don’t fix it yourself and don’t hire anyone to fix it. If you fix it yourself and something bad happens (fire caused by the oven for example) then the landlord will hold you responsible for that. Landlord has responsibility to fix. Usually landlords don’t allow tenants to fix things in the house.
I had a gas stove with electric igniters. One of the burners had a broken igniter, but I could light it with a match, no problem. When we lost electricity, I could light them all with a match. We had a major power outage and I was cooking up a storm because no one else could.
Same at my sister’s house. She had a big power outage during a winter storm and all her neighbors were going over to her house to cook. I’m not sure how old the stove was at my rental house but my sister’s is less than 20 years old. She did a kitchen remodel sometime in the 2000’s.
Sorry…but this person also has an oven that doesn’t work…at all.
The landlord should be informed about this.
I see OP’s concern. But I’d nicely go to the LL and broach the subject. Along the lines of, the oven isn’t lighting, what do you want me to do? She can say the repairman did take a quick look. There are also options for reconditioned stoves.
But OP, if you don’t find a house in 6 months, what’s the idea? Re-upping for another year seems to lock you in.
A renter can expect working appliances. I’d just tell him the gas range doesn’t work. It’s his responsibility to replace or repair it fully. Even in a seller’s market, he’ll make more money if he sells the house in working condition.
I have a very inexpensive plastic “refillable butane lighter” that I originally bought for our outdoor gas grill. If our gas stovetop gets balky, I will pull it out of the drawer and use it to light the stovetop. You could easily light a gas oven with this tool, but what happens when a gas oven reaches it’s set temperature? It turns off, right? How does it turn back on? Our oven is electric, so I don’t know the answers to these questions. Obviously, if the gas turns off when temperature is reached, and the oven relies on the igniter to turn itself back on, you don’t want to light your oven with a match or a lighter.
To the OP…tell the landlord about this issue. Otherwise…when YOU move out, it’s likely he will keep your security and damage deposit…because he will,just figure YOU broke the thing…and didn’t say anything.