[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Clearly, your landlords are amateurs. And, you need to set an appropriate, professional tone now, as you would with your dog, or your child, or you will be taken advantage of for the remainder of your tenancy.... as you would be by your dog, or by your child.
A "reasonable amount of time" to get a stove repaired is a couple of days. You get a repairman to come out, and they diagnose and fix it. It is not "reasonable" by any stretch of the imagination to order a part, try that out, and, if it fails to fix the problem, order some other part, etc., until, by the seventh or eighth part you finally find the problem. Nor is it reasonable to wait for weeks for "the store" to send a part, when Sears and many others stock virtually every part you could ever need in their repairmen's trucks.
The bottom line is that you are paying for a home with a stove. You are receiving a home without a stove. What would be the rent for a place similar to yours, but without a stove? $200 less a month? $300 less a month? Let's say it's $300/month, that's $10/day, more or less. When it comes time to pay the rent for January, deduct $200, to cover the lack of a stove from December 10 (when it absolutely should have been fixed, if it's been out since December 5) through December 31, and inform the landlord that you are deducting from the rent for the value you were PROMISED, but are not receiving. And add that when it comes time to pay the rent for February, you will deduct $10/day for each day in January that you had no stove. That should motivate them to fix the stove, and you have reason in your favor. It is NOT reasonable to withhold the ENTIRETY of the rent, because you are getting value from the place; you're sleeping there, and otherwise benefiting. The amount you deduct should reasonably reflect the difference in value between what you were promised and what you are receiving.
You absolutely should NOT attempt repairs yourself. This is an old stove, and something else will be wrong with it next month. If you attempt repairs, or hire someone yourself to repair it, then when it inevitably breaks again next month, the landlord will claim that YOUR incompetent repairs caused the problem, and that YOU should pay to fix it. It's the landlord's responsibility to take care of this; don't rescue them by taking care of it yourself.
It's possible that your landlord will get all upset with you and start making your life a misery because you are standing up for your rights. Better to know that now and find another place to live, than later. As my mom used to say, "If you don't like dancing with her, don't ask her to marry you."
posted by 208.74.177...
, Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:28:41
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
