I'm being sued!

[puppylove64]

My first time ever being a landlord and the tenant is suing me for utilities and rent because they claim they didn't have heat or air. It amounts to $3500. There were issues with the hvac, but every time they called me, I had a repair man go check on it and tell me it was fine (dec and jan). Finally in July, the unit went out and I had to have the hvac replaced entirely. Which was done in less than 3 business days. I'm super stressed by these folks. Dh wants to sell the house, but I feel like these are just rare awful tenants. I can't wait until they move
Eta I'll probably delete later, so pdq

[laurensmomma]

That freaking sucks. I'm sorry.

[dixeedeluxe]

I'm interested on how this goes because we had similar issues with our tenant and then the tenant. No lawsuit...yet.

If you have reciepts, they don't have a case. Also, I'm pretty sure it's not the law to provide AC. Just heat. And the average temp it has to maintain is super low.

[autumnfire]

Hugs! Do you have the reports/bills from the technician. Along with documentation of when the tenants called in relation to when you responded with getting them help? I think if you have more then enough documentation showing your responsiveness and that someone qualified verified things to be fine, you should be okay.

This however doesn't take away the stress and headache all of this is causing to you and your life. Really sorry

[melmon0417]

That sucks. Dixee made some good points, though. Definitely look into that.

[dixeedeluxe]

How long were they saying there was no heat? Because as a tenant, if there's no heat, they have hte option of putting the rent in escrot until the problem is resolved. I assume they did not.

[puppylove64]

Oct 24, 2014 12:24:54 GMT -5 dixeedeluxe said:

How long were they saying there was no heat? Because as a tenant, if there's no heat, they have hte option of putting the rent in escrot until the problem is resolved. I assume they did not.

They claim they didn't have it from Dec-Jul. I have a repair bill from Dec, Jan that both say it was repaired and working properly. Then in Jul it needed to be replaced. The have always paid the rent on time.
Oh and the house has a wood burning fireplace. So they never would have froze to death!

[dixeedeluxe]

Oct 24, 2014 15:10:33 GMT -5 puppylove64 said:

Oct 24, 2014 12:24:54 GMT -5 dixeedeluxe said:

How long were they saying there was no heat? Because as a tenant, if there's no heat, they have hte option of putting the rent in escrot until the problem is resolved. I assume they did not.

They claim they didn't have it from Dec-Jul. I have a repair bill from Dec, Jan that both say it was repaired and working properly. Then in Jul it needed to be replaced. The have always paid the rent on time.
Oh and the house has a wood burning fireplace. So they never would have froze to death!

Oh yeah, they've got no case. 

[browneyedhunni85]

I agree with Dixie. I don't see how they would have a case if there was another source of heat. Can you provide receipts? I'm sorry you are dealing with this. My parents have rental properties and it can become a big pain. They've encountered a few issues over the years but overall most of their renter have been great. They had a couple rent from them for over ten years. We've even considered it as well but it's a lot of work and I don't see DH as being the most handy person. I hope this gets straightened out.

[pippilongstocking]

If you have the receipts I'm sure you will be fine! I'm sorry this is happening though.

[raynes]

Ugh, that's really annoying. I agree that it sounds like they have no case.