Asking for someone else who asked me so want to gather some opinions from the great CC minds:
If you were an apartment renter and the heating system to your unit broke and it took 2 weeks (forever!) for property management to fix due to an old heating system and obtaining parts, what do you feel is fair compensation?
Renters used self-provided electric space heaters. Fortunately, it has been a milder than normal winter so, although it was still very chilly compared to central heat, it was manageable.
The obvious to me is seeking compensation for the extra electrical cost above and beyond customary usage. But, I also feel like the renters should be given additional compensation like some kind of discount off the rent for dealing with it for a whole 2 weeks.
Anybody here with property management experience or similar experience or just an opinion want to weigh in?
It depends on how high the rent is, how big the rental company is, etc. Low rent and a small company and I’d ask for maybe $100 off. Higher rent and bigger conglomeration and I would ask for up to 1/2 price for the month. Maybe 1/4 off is splitting the difference since they were impacted for 1/2 the month but didn’t absolutely have to leave the unit.
Bigger property management company, not small, independent mom & pop with a few units.
Rent isn’t super expensive. The place is not plush or high rent by any means but the rent is in keeping with the area and type of unit, in other words “market rent” not some “great bargain”.
We rent out four condo units. No heat in the winter, I would consider that “unliveable” and reimburse them for their rent for that two weeks. I could collect from my insurance company for that (though it might not go much above the deductible), at least that’s what I would do, but I’m sure if people don’t complain, many owners/management would do nothing. They really should do something significant, though if you didn’t move out, they probably won’t reimburse rent.
Compensation should reflect actual damages which, in this case, would be the added electricity cost and possibly an additional credit due to the tenant providing the electric space heaters.
Assuming the landlord didn’t sabotage the heating system, no one’s at fault. Both parties are suffering. “Punitive damages” wouldn’t be appropriate.
There’s not enough information. If you’re in Maine, the apartment might be almost unlivable. If you’re in SoCal, it might be a minor inconvenience, at worst.
@roethlisburger Not as far north as Maine but in the Northeast and most definitely winter. Outdoor temps ranged between 25 and 50 degrees throughout most of that time period. I actually think the landlord was very lucky that there wasn’t a cold blast where things dipped to 0 degree temps.
@sherpa Being f’ing cold for two weeks wasn’t part of the rental contract. I do feel there should be some compensation for that. Problems do happen, yes, but it isn’t the tenant’s fault that the situation took two weeks to fix. Parts should be kept on hand or the system should have been/should be upgraded to something more recent to resolve the problem in a timely fashion. 2 weeks isn’t timely and reasonable IMO. The landlord took the cheap way out instead of resolving it quickly in a more way that would have been more costly to them. Seems like the suffering is more in the tenant’s camp than the landlords to me. Not trying to attack your position and I appreciate all the different points of view, just articulating my thoughts. Feel free to counter. It’s good to explore all sides. If nothing else, it will help construct arguments for a rebuttal.
My kid had an opposite issue. Her AC stopped working during a 90 degree heat wave. The apartment complex has a rule about opening windows…you can’t in the summer. It was 90 IN the apartment.
Management came and charged the AC unit a few times…and that helped…but the temps never got below the 80’s.
Window AC units are not allowed.
They finally completely replaced the HVAC unit entirely. DD realized how much more she had been paying for AC because of a malfunctioning unit.
I think I would look at tenants rights in your state, and see what they consider is unliveable, or whatever else they say about it. Losing heat in the winter is not acceptable, and potentially they should have to reimburse your rent… though if you didn’t move out, that may not be enforceable. But if you look at the tenants rights, send them an email that uses some of the verbiage, you might be able to get something that helps. Heat is necessary. However, you might have had more of a position if you said at the beginning you might have to move out, but who wants to move to a hotel? Your renters insurance would have to pay for that anyways, however, I would really Google tenants rights for your state.
They can open windows to escape if there is a fire. They are NOT allowed to,have windows open in the summer…they MUST use their AC…I’m sure this is to deal with potential humidity and mold issues.
The windows DO open…but the complex clearly has it in the lease that they will NOT be opened during the summer months.
As an aside…there are plenty of places where the windows don’t open at all…like in high rise apartments.
I had a shower fail in a rental, it took several months, over a thousand dollars, and several attempted repairs before we determined it had actually failed, then that repair was over $10k. Once that determination of failure was made, it literally took five months before the job was completed, and I was lucky to get a contractor who could do it sooner than 6-12 months! Small town with mad real estate boom post the 2008 drop meant skilled contractors were at a premium. But it was one of those things that kept seeming like it would be fixed any time. Initially I sent them a couple of $50 gift cards for restaurants as thanks for being cool during the hassles, but at the end, once I knew the timing, I sent them $500. I based that loosely on the percentage of the house under construction as a percent of rent, times five months & then rounded up
What if your friend asks them what they plan to do in the way of compensation, you could check utility bills, one month versus the next, but it might not be that much of a difference, were they still freezing cold with the electric heaters?
My DD had talked to her landlord about an issue which was supposed to be fixed, it was not and later caused more damage to her possessions, she asked them to fix it and to pay her deductible on her renter’s insurance, which they did. That felt fair to all concerned.
The extra electric ran about $100-150 for the month.
It was still cold with the heaters. Above freezing, obviously, but still well below normal temps. It’s a sizable multi-bedroom apt. with high ceilings and wood floors in cold climate, so a few space heaters kept them and the pipes from freezing but they were troopers for dealing with it, IMO.
My thoughts are that they should ask, as you suggest @somemom, how the property company plans to compensate, or go in asking for say 1/2 off rent and the extra spent on electricity upfront, knowing that they could negotiate something between that ask and nothing.
Stuff happens, but I just feel there should be at least some compensation made. It is a landlord’s responsibility to make sure things are in working order.
That was unnecessarily argumentative. You asked for knowledgeable opinions and I gave you one.
I’ll elaborate on my earlier answer. I’m not an attorney but have been professionally involved in enough litigation that I tend to look at things legalistically. I’ve also done a lot of mediation, so I can easily imagine both side’s claims, arguments, and weaknesses. Against this background “the legalistic me” suggested that compensation should be equal to actual damages and that there was no apparent justification for punitive damages.
I should have added that “the mediator me” agrees that this is a fair outcome. It appears the landlord is acting in good faith, as 2 weeks for a repair to an older central heating system seems reasonable.
The intention wasn’t to be argumentative, @sherpa. I apologize if that impression was given. My word choice was to express how terribly cold it was and that it was a burden upon the renters. In fact, I included this part to let you know that I didn’t mean offense: “Not trying to attack your position and I appreciate all the different points of view, just articulating my thoughts. Feel free to counter. It’s good to explore all sides.” Not sure if you saw that part.
Curious as to whether you find 2 weeks a “reasonable and customary” time to fix a heating system? Isn’t that a common measure in disputes and mediation,
“reasonable and customary”? Note: this was the only unit affected in a bigger complex. Ownership could have elected to upgrade the dated heating unit specific to this unit if they wanted to by replacing it with something new. Or found a way to expedite the repair. Example: the heating system in our home went out about a year ago. 20 years old. We were able to fix it in 2 days. The piece was fedexed to speed things up. Perhaps I am wrong but I don’t see 2 weeks in winter as being expeditious in a climate where heating is mandatory and tenant supplied space heaters aren’t sufficient as a sole source of heat (I won’t dwell on safety issues). Thankfully, there were no frail or old people in the apartment or young children. 2 of the three renters did get sick over that time. Might have happened anyway, but living in cold quarters certainly doesn’t help one keep healthy as the body needs to work harder to stay warm.
This is what I would do. In addition to looking at state laws, they should review their lease to see if it spells out compensation for temporary uninhabitability. They might also want to check their renters insurance and make sure that they’re covered if a fire broke out because of one of those heaters.
want to weigh in?