Is the landlord responsible for appliances?

Yeah its a boring question. But, my refrigerator has been giving me problems for the past few months, and now it is COMPLETELY broken. It has been faulty ever since I moved in. I was curious, considering i didn't break it myself, is my landlord required to get me a new one?

reply to post by hikix


read your lease.....if it was there when you moved in, i would think, yes, but i would get out my lease if i were you and go over it....

edit* i don't think they have to give you a 'new' fridge, but provide you with a working one.....for example, if there is an empty apartment and you tell them, you'll probably get the fridge from there.

it's all in your lease but generally, they are responsible for that stuff.


[edit on 30-11-2007 by Boondock78]

What does it say in your lease? Look for the tiny, tiny wording.

Edit: Yeah, what Boondock said. ^^^

Peace

[edit on 30-11-2007 by Dr Love]

I never signed a lease... it is my 'friend' who owns the house. It was a verbal agreement. I can legitimately leave tomorrow if i want. So, considering that, there probably isn't any legality to this. So, I was wondering if it is standard that I have a working fridge. I don't care if its a new one or he fixes this one, I just want something that works!!! So i can drink cold :w:

Originally posted by hikix
I never signed a lease... it is my 'friend' who owns the house. It was a verbal agreement. I can legitimately leave tomorrow if i want. So, considering that, there probably isn't any legality to this. So, I was wondering if it is standard that I have a working fridge. I don't care if its a new one or he fixes this one, I just want something that works!!! So i can drink cold :w:

then no, i would say nobody is responsible....if the owner don't care if you stay there, thats cool but they don't have to provide you with a fridge...

kinda misleading there duder....if you are not renting and did not sign a lease, then you do not have a landlord.

what was the verbal agreement?

I was supposed to sign a lease, but my landlord is just lazy and 'never got around to it'. So I figured that a lease would be more binding to me, so why should i even bring it up? The verbal agreement was that I stay there as long as I pay the rent. But things are starting to break, heat, fridge, etc. And i am having second thoughts if they don't get fixed soon.

reply to post by hikix


i really don't have any advice for ya...yeah, a lease would have bound you up, BUT, it is there to protect you just as much as the landlord you know...

i guess see if the owner is gonna fix the stuff and if not, take off. if you're not bound to the place....

when you say sign a lease and landlord...

do you mean you are under a sublet?

like she rents it and then she sublets it to you?
something like that?

Lease or no lease, I do think the landlord is responsible for the appliances that he provided with the place. He owns them, he is responsible for them.

Any place I ever rented the landlord was responsible for the appliances.

reply to post by snowflake_obsidian


yeah, thats what i figured. I live in a really nice house on the water in Long Island. The landlord has plenty of money to fix things. It is a mother/daughter, not a legal 2-family, that might be a reason i never signed a lease. But my landlord is home about 4 days a month. So i figured that i would see what people said before i asked him to fix it.

Originally posted by snowflake_obsidian
Lease or no lease, I do think the landlord is responsible for the appliances that he provided with the place. He owns them, he is responsible for them.

Any place I ever rented the landlord was responsible for the appliances.

and same goes for me. BUT, i signed a lease and we did a walkthrough inspection before we moved in and after we moved out, checking things off the list..

it sounds to me that in this instance, he is staying at a friends house and maybe they verbally agreed that the owner would get say $500 a month while he stays there.
how does that make the owner responsible for them?
the landlord does own them which is why he does not have to do anything...if it is his spread and he don't feel like coughing up the cash for a new fridge, then he don't have to.


this is how i see it and i was a renter for years.....then again, the only time i moved in with friends and did the verbal thing, it didn't work out for any of us....


at the very least you should sign a month to month...at the least...
covers you and the owner

reply to post by hikix


so you're in a duplex then?
townhouse(up and down)

i don't understand this part

It is a mother/daughter, not a legal 2-family, that might be a reason i never signed a lease

i'm not trying to work you over on this either mang...trying to help ya figure it out

At my last rental we didn't sign a lease and we still expected the landlord to be responsible for the appliances, and when our stove wasn't working, he gladly replaced it.

I am pretty sure that anything that comes with the place, the landlord is responsible for.

If I am wrong, then I would say go find a cheap used fridge somewhere and then make sure you take it with you when you leave.

reply to post by hikix


We owned and rented out a property here in Australia for a couple of years so, if you were in Australia i would say yes, if it was there when you moved in and was in working condition when you signed the rental agreement.
The stove in our rental property broke down and we were required to have it repaired for our tenants.

Originally posted by mojo4sale


We owned and rented out a property here in Australia for a couple of years so, if you were in Australia i would say yes, if it was there when you moved in and was in working condition when you signed the rental agreement.
The stove in our rental property broke down and we were required to have it repaired for our tenants.

emphasis mine....if you did not sign an agreement, then i am thinking they don't HAVE to do a damn thing they don't want to.
could be wrong but i never moved into a place without a lease...

reply to post by Boondock78


But if they don't want to replace it cause it's not in a lease, I would warn them that you aren't responsible for any ANY damage that may happen to the place.

I can give you a definitive answer on this, I represent tenants in Tribunal and mediation situations against their landlords.

Lease or no lease, if you pay rent to a person, business or corporation, you are a tenant and are protected by law as such.
I see that you live in New York State, and I have only dealt with Ontario law, but I can provide you with the codes for your area.

Your landlord is required by law to provide adequate services and to keep your building and apartment in good repair. If your landlord is not providing essential services such as heat and hot water or making repairs even though you have notified him/her in writing of the conditions in your apartment, you can sue your landlord in the Housing Part of Civil Court. This court is commonly called "Housing Court." The Court can order your landlord to provide services and make repairs. This action is called a Tenant-initiated action' or a Housing Part ("HP") Action. Individual tenants as well as tenant groups can start HP Actions for repairs.
tenant.net...

If you are in a low-income situation the State will waive any fees require to bring an action against your landlord.

Write your landlord a letter first listing the repairs you require, make a copy for yourself and put it in a file. Quite often just the threat of action is enough to get the landlord off his ass and do the required repairs.

Please review the entire link I provided above, and if you have any question just post them or send me a u2u.

Good-luck
The law is on your side in this issue.....