The rental house we have been renting has developed a central heat and air problem. Though I don't think it is anything major financially, we do want it fixed without having to pay for it ourselves. The downstairs is quite balmy as the air and thermostat isn't working in that part of the house. At the beginning of the lease, I specifically asked about major repairs, and the landlord said he would be responsible for anything that went wrong. That is typical. We are in charge of paying for any repairs for our home in Birmingham. Yes, it stinks when something goes wrong, but that is all part of the joys of home ownership! Well, I got an email from our landlord yesterday asking if we would be open to him paying a home warranty for the house, and then us pay for any deductions for the plan and take care of the vendors as well. With this email coming on the tail end of our notifying him about the air, which still isn't fixed-it didn't strike me in the best of ways. I feel like he is asking us to pay to fix the air problem!
Our landlord is a nice guy. We don't want to upset him, or make our relationship strained, but at the same time, we don't feel we want to participate in his home warranty plan. We feel that it is something that would be of great benefit for him, and that he probably should have already had it in place when we began renting. Had he mentioned this option at the beginning of the lease, we might have agreed. But, now, we don't know what to do!
What do YOU think we should do???
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Don't do it. He is landlord, he is responsible for all repairs. Period. Why should you have to pay deductions? You can be nice about it and still tell him no.
ReplyDeleteRachel Tyson
I was going to say the same thing as Rachel. You feel like he's asking you to pay to fix the air problem because he is. Also if you give in on this, you don't know what he'll ask you to do next...slippery slope.
ReplyDeleteSC Attorney
I totally agree with Rachel and Mr/Mrs. Anonymous....He is responsible for all repairs, unless it says something in your lease about you being responsible for a portion of the repairs.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone. I agree, but it's nice to have back up! Now to tactfully say no-ugh.
ReplyDeleteYep, it's his house- he pays. That's how it works! Go get 'em!:-)
ReplyDelete