Deduct deposit or no?
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Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) May 21, 2024 11:46 AM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by mapleaf18 [NY]) May 21, 2024 11:50 AM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by NE [PA]) May 21, 2024 11:56 AM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by plenty [MO]) May 21, 2024 12:04 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Jason [VA]) May 21, 2024 12:05 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) May 21, 2024 12:14 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Busy [WI]) May 21, 2024 12:24 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by S i d [MO]) May 21, 2024 12:49 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Tim [CA]) May 21, 2024 2:39 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Still Learning [NH]) May 21, 2024 4:28 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by WMH [NC]) May 21, 2024 5:03 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by 6x6 [TN]) May 21, 2024 6:43 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by zero [IN]) May 22, 2024 8:20 AM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Busy [WI]) May 22, 2024 11:17 AM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) May 22, 2024 4:59 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) May 23, 2024 1:27 PM
       Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) May 24, 2024 11:03 AM


Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 11:46 AM
Message:

Hi,

I have a tenant who moved in 5 years ago and just moved out. I put a brand new stainless steel gas stove in her apartment before she moved in. When she moved out, the oven was broken. She told the groundkeeper (who constantly talks to all tenants more often than me) that she forgot to pull out the foam and plastic tapes under the oven. She started the oven with all those things inside and broke the oven the first month she moved in. However she never told me because she was afraid that I would charge her for repair. She doesn't cook much anyway.

The stove burners on the top still work, but the oven is not. I will need to replace the entire stove just because the oven is not working. My question is that should I charge her a portion of the new stove (because she only broke the oven) or should I charge her for the entire new stove (because I have to buy a new one)? Chicago is a very tenant friendly city. My eviction lawyers used to tell me to not be picky about deducting the security deposit. It won't worth her lawyer fee if the tenants decide to make it a big deal for not returning a full deposit.

--99.128.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by mapleaf18 [NY]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 11:50 AM
Message:

Do you know where she moved to? I'd be inclined to inform the new landlord that she is a "secret keeper" but that's just me. --64.246.xxx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by NE [PA]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 11:56 AM
Message:

Have you called an appliance repair guy? --24.152.xxx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by plenty [MO]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 12:04 PM
Message:

Her fear is true, she knew she'd have to pay for it. Had she paid for it give years ago it would have been less . Today is the day she expects to pay for it, and st today's prices. The stove should have lasted alot longer. She admits she knew and was negligent. However after writing all that I would put some blame on the installer... Who hired them? Who supervised them? Why did they set the stove up to be used properly and safety? --172.59.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Jason [VA]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 12:05 PM
Message:

Repair and deduct. Why over complicate? --172.56.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 12:14 PM
Message:

I disagree - it is the landlords job to have these systems in working order on day one. If you delegate that task to the tenant and the tenant messes this up, it should fall back on the landlord for either 1) not training the person up or 2) not reminding them to do these task before you use them.

There is a protective coating on ovens that needs to get cooked on to cure - I would be thankful that no one got seriously hurt by my screw up. Did the tenant screw up - yes, but it was the landlord who empowered them --24.101.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Busy [WI]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 12:24 PM
Message:

I had a response, but it got stuck in the filter.

Anyway, responsibility lies with whomever installed it. What if Grandma came over to bake cookies and turned oven on to preheat? Would it be Grandma’s fault? No. Did the tenant get it iff the truck and heft it into the apartment? Probably not.

I say fault lies with person who brought it into the unit. And, I also think this should be repairable.

Tenants don’t tell us about things because we often ding them for things that we screwed up in the first place , by forgetting: They are tenants for a reason.

Keep things sturdy and simple. At least that’s my philosophy. Oh --172.58.xxx.x




Deduct deposit or no? (by S i d [MO]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 12:49 PM
Message:

If you didn't correctly install the oven, it's 100% on you. That's what sounds like happened, but correct me if I'm misunderstanding.

I don't count on tenants to operate anything more complicated than a light switch and resetting the occasional breaker. --184.4.xx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Tim [CA]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 2:39 PM
Message:

What will you tell the judge when he asks "why didn't you repair the stove? --73.2.xx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Still Learning [NH]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 4:28 PM
Message:

It says you put a stove in there. Did you not double check for those items and test it? Installers these days never remove anything and even if they do, they miss something. --73.159.xxx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by WMH [NC]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 5:03 PM
Message:

Installer or Landlord's problem. I would not have expected a tenant to know to remove all the packing material before using. --173.28.xx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by 6x6 [TN]) Posted on: May 21, 2024 6:43 PM
Message:

Sounds as if the packing material was not removed. This may have been done so that the tenant could see it was a brand new stove and be happy. However, the instructions should have been tapped to the handle or somewhere very obvious, and the tenant should have been informed to be sure to read all instructions and remove packaging material before use.

The best thing would have been for the LL to remove all packaging materials, test everything, and leave a copy of the instructions with the tenant.

I give tenants a move-in binder (thanks Jeffrey) for them to keep their lease copy in. It includes lots of useful information for the tenants. It includes a copy of the user's manuals for things such as appliances.

So, in the case you are describing, was the tenant informed of the new appliance needing "unpackaged", how to do it, and given a copy of the user's manual?

If not, then I would have to say it is the LL's fault, because there was not proper communication and/or everything should have been ready to go.

--76.129.xxx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by zero [IN]) Posted on: May 22, 2024 8:20 AM
Message:

I agree that initially it was the LLs fault.

The fact that the tenant did not tell the LL makes me wonder what else she might have hidden in five years.

Installed a brand new fridge in an apartment. Plugged it in, opened the doors and found maybe a thousand pieces of foam and tape that had to be removed. It seriously too me close to an hour to get everything out, cleaned off and put back in place.

The tenant might have done that, or she might have had half the inside space of the refrigerator.

Every time at turnover I check all the systems. Stoves, fridges, faucets, heaters, lights, etc. I tell the new tenant that everything has been checked and is working fine. They have the chance to check as well. --107.147.xx.xx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Busy [WI]) Posted on: May 22, 2024 11:17 AM
Message:

And, don’t feel too bad if you are the one who left the shipping materials in there. I posted while recovering from a great big oops! i did this week. ( ya gotta stir the polyurethane!) You got five years of rent from tenant, and they didn’t cook a lot. Less messy, greasy walls, hopefully.

I wish Learning Opportunities weren’t so money/time-consuming. But, then they wouldn’t teach us as much.

Sorry this happened. --172.58.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) Posted on: May 22, 2024 4:59 PM
Message:

Thank you everyone for your reply.

mapleaf18 [NY], no I don't know where she moved to. Frankly I was happy enought that she moved out with eviction after losing her job.

NE [PA], no. They're usually expensive and charging half the price of the brand new appliance.

plenty [MO]. Good point on "she expects to pay". Why blame the installer? The stove is brand new and have all tapes and foam all over.

Jason[VA]. Ok I'll check the repair price.

Ray-N-Pa[PA]. Oh I don't even know that there is a protective coating on ovens that needs to get cooked on to cure. Interesting. I put many brand new stove in many apartments and never had to cured the oven before. Is this a new feature?

Busy [WI], ok I'll get a repair man to give me the estimate.

S i d [MO]. The stove was connected to the gas line. All tapes and foam are left to show the tenants that it was brand new. Does removing all tapes/foam part of the installation? She knew to remove them before using the stove but didn't for the oven.

Tim [CA]. Good point. I'll get the repair estimate first. If it's going to be half of the brand new stove (like what I expected), I would just buy a new one.

WMH [NC]. Got it. Thanks.

6x6 [TN]. Correct, I purposely left all packing material intact to show everyone that it's brand spanking new (aka I'm not a slum lord :-) Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

zero[IN]. Thanks.

Busy [WI]. You're right. I've got 5 years of rent out of her. So I'm not serious about just replacing one stove. Yes it was me who left all packing material on the stove just to show everyone that the apartment has a brand new appliance. Yep, live and learn :-) --99.128.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: May 23, 2024 1:27 PM
Message:

On your next install, turn on the oven to 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. Smell after about three minutes and you will be able to tell. The instructions tell you not to cook during that time --24.101.xxx.xxx




Deduct deposit or no? (by Chicago LL [IL]) Posted on: May 24, 2024 11:03 AM
Message:

Ray-N-Pa[PA], great idea! Thanks for the tip :-) --99.128.xxx.xxx





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