LL Doesn't Care About Broken Appliances In New Lease

redappple

Hi, firstly I know there are many threads r.e broken wash machines, etc but this is more about the landlord than the actual appliances. Last month we leased this house after a long, long search. The LL (lives down the country) told us he hopes to sell the house when the 12 mo lease ends.

House has most mod con appliances, although I would hazard a guess that they were all bought in late 90's early 00's. Soon after moving in we found that the dishwasher and tumble dryer were not working properly, and after 2 weeks the wash machine has started acting up too.

The problem is that on signing the lease he casually said 'Now ye won't be on to me all the time will ye? I had one crowd who were constantly on to me about stuff. Once they rang me saying the oven was broken. I mean, what was I supposed to do I can't look at it and fix it from down here'. We've decided we don't really need the tumble dryer and are happy not to 'annoy' him about this, but the dish washer was a big bonus and the wash machine essential. He is hard to get hold of, and when we told him about dish washer said 'Well I won't be getting a new one. Let me think about it' and never got back to us. I can totally understand that he is selling the house and isn't going to replace the appliances - but are we to suffer the consequences? The couple of times we have contacted him he says he will get back but never does.

Now he has agreed that we can organise to get someone to look at the wash machine (he said nothing about dish washer!) - but who pays for this? And where do we stand r.e. these broken/faulty appliances?

shruikan2553

He can get away with doing nothing about the dishwasher. The drier too if it is possible to dry outside. The washing machine has to be fixed or replaced. If its through a fault from age or something that isnt you then the LL pays. If you have been over loading it or something that can be your fault them you would be the one to pay but it sounds like the thing was going to break soon anyway. You could get 2-3 quotes for fixing the washing machine and send it to him. Im not sure the legalities of taking the cost out of the rent though if you ended up paying for it.

hfallada

I imagine the Landlord is actually selling the house, but is just telling you that so you will feel guilty asking about new appliances. If he has had the house during the boom, I seriously doubt he will sell it at the bottom of the market.

If you took the house expecting working appliances(its sort of a given in 2014) and find out they arent working. Personally I would be on the phone night and day looking for them to be replaced or fixed. Appliances are so cheap now. A brand new bosch washing machine is just over €300(one of the best brands) and a dishwasher is only about €250.

As far as I know in a Dublin city council area. A house most have a place to wash clothes and a dryer if there is no garden or balcony. I think the landlord is lying about selling just to keep you quiet. And why should you care about him selling? You are going to be living there for the next 12 months paying him.

Hound him night and day until you get what you need

the_syco

redappple wrote: »

The problem is that on signing the lease he casually said 'Now ye won't be on to me all the time will ye? I had one crowd who were constantly on to me about stuff. Once they rang me saying the oven was broken. I mean, what was I supposed to do I can't look at it and fix it from down here'.

Take this as the people renting before you. Check how new the oven is' I'm guessing it'll be as old as the hills, and only fixed to avoid replacing it.

If he does decide to have people view the house, ensure the times are to your liking, and use said times as leverage to get stuff fixed :P

Grumpypants

I recently got a washing machine for 140 Euro and it's perfect, if I was you id send a text saying sorry to bother you but the washing machine is broken and that you can organize someone to look at it or to have a new one delivered yourself and ask if it suited to send him the bill or just take it off the rent.

I know it's not up to you to do that but you sound pretty reasonable and that you would prefer to get it sorted without much hassle and that is the easiest for everyone.

redappple

Thanks for all the good advice. Interestingly . . . . the oven is new!!! I think either the last tenants said nothing to him about the broken appliances or else he is letting on that he never knew, as when we rang him about the wash machine, having already rang about the dishwasher 2 weeks earlier he said that he would have to think about it as there was no appliance/electrical problems in the house in a few years . . and I think he believes these problems may be our fault. But I'm positive two of the three appliances were broken when we moved in and one within two weeks - we are only in a month. I've been renting 10+ years and have never broken/misused appliances - nothing like this has ever happened before.

I probably would think twice about moving into a house a LL is planning on selling again in future but we were desperate and looking for 2+ months. Can't believe how reasonable the above prices for a wash machine and dishwasher. Our rent is 3 times the price of a dish washer and wash machine combined.

the_syco

redappple wrote: »

Thanks for all the good advice. Interestingly . . . . the oven is new!!! I think either the last tenants said nothing to him about the broken appliances or else he is letting on that he never knew, as when we rang him about the wash machine, having already rang about the dishwasher 2 weeks earlier he said that he would have to think about it as there was no appliance/electrical problems in the house in a few years

I'd wager that they were all broke, and he only replaced the oven hoping to keep the the last tenants.